The priorities for the cryptocurrency task force at the SEC include determining which assets are not securities and establishing a clear procedure for registering new tokens. This was announced by Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the group.
The group plans to identify areas outside the Commission’s jurisdiction and reassess the approach to token offerings.
Experts also intend to recommend that the SEC provide “temporary forward-looking and retrospective relief from liability” for token issuance, provided the issuer assumes responsibility and offers appropriate current information. The group will review ongoing legal cases against crypto companies initiated under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Peirce emphasized their readiness to collaborate with other government agencies, as well as the crypto community and industry.
“We invite developers, enthusiasts, and skeptics to collaborate to determine what the final rules should be and what interim steps can help foster innovation in the meantime,” the commissioner noted.
Among the crypto industry representatives close to the SEC task force is former Coin Center policy director Landon Zinda, who has been appointed as a senior advisor.
Meanwhile, the Commission is downsizing the department that handled enforcement in the crypto industry, which employed over 50 staff members. Some of them will be reassigned to other divisions within the agency.
According to The New York Times, one of the department’s leading lawyers is among those being transferred. Sources familiar with the decision described it as an “unjust demotion.”
Formal investigations by SEC specialists are now permitted only with approval from “politically appointed leadership.” Without permission, they cannot demand testimony or documents from representatives of accountable companies.
Informal investigations remain possible, but officials’ powers are limited in such cases. One available tool is non-mandatory requests for information.
Back in January, the Sloan School of Management at MIT announced the return of former Commission Chair Gensler as a professor.