The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has placed its first crypto-specific fundraising rule on its July schedule, according to an updated regulatory agenda that Chairman Paul Atkins published on July 7. The plan, known as Regulation Crypto, would let token projects raise money without completing full securities registration, a path no prior SEC has offered. It sets out three separate ways for crypto founders to sidestep the heaviest disclosure rules while still filing some financial information with the agency. The proposal is not yet law. It remains under White House review, and even a July release would leave it months away from taking effect.
A registration exemption is a legal carve-out that lets a company raise money from investors without filing the full public-offering paperwork the SEC normally requires.
Key takeaways
- SEC Chairman Paul Atkins slotted Regulation Crypto for July in the agency’s updated 2026 agenda, published July 7.
- The rule would create three exemption paths: a startup raise of up to about $5 million over four years, a larger raise of up to $75 million a year, and a safe harbor for tokens that reach real decentralization.
- The proposal is still under review at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and the earliest it could take effect is mid-2027.
- The move lands as the CLARITY Act stalls in the Senate, leaving the SEC rule as the likely operative framework if Congress does not act before its August recess.
Published: July 9, 2026, 09:00 UTC
What the rule would do
Atkins first described the framework in a March 17 speech at the DC Blockchain Summit, and the updated agenda now commits the agency to a formal proposal. The plan gives founders three distinct exits from the full weight of the Securities Act of 1933.
The first is a startup exemption. A new project would get a temporary pass from full registration for up to four years, during which it could publish simplified disclosures, essentially a white paper posted on a public website, and raise up to roughly $5 million. The company must tell the SEC when it starts relying on the exemption and again when it exits.
The second is a fundraising exemption for more established projects, allowing raises of up to $75 million in any 12-month period. This path requires audited financial statements and semi-annual reporting. That $75 million ceiling matches what Regulation A+, the existing SEC exemption for smaller public offerings, already permits for non-crypto issuers, according to CoinDesk.
The third is an investment-contract safe harbor. Once a project’s founders step back and the network runs on its own, the token would no longer be treated as a security under SEC jurisdiction. That pathway builds on the SEC and CFTC joint interpretive release from March 17, which set out the principle but carried no binding force. All three exemptions are conditional. An issuer that misstates facts, exceeds the caps, or skips required filings loses the protection and faces the full securities laws.
Why it matters
The value to the industry is durability. A formal rule is far harder to unwind than the staff guidance and no-action letters the SEC has relied on over the past year, none of which bind a future administration. That permanence is what crypto companies have said they need to plan capital raises with any confidence.
Atkins tied the effort directly to the White House. “To deliver on President Trump’s goal to ensure that the United States is the crypto capital of the world, we are embracing innovation to bring more products onshore,” he said in a July 7 statement, naming the crypto agenda ahead of any other rulemaking.
Congress is the wild card
The rule advances as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the broader bill Atkins has called a “bridge” to legislation, sits stuck. The CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 on May 14 and has been on the Senate calendar since June 1, yet no floor vote had been scheduled as of July 8. The Senate returns from recess on July 13, leaving about three usable weeks before its August break, the window analysts have flagged as the last realistic gate for passage this year. The EU’s MiCA regime reached full enforcement on July 1, giving global firms a competing rulebook while Washington debates.
The two versions of Regulation Crypto also differ. The CLARITY Act’s text caps qualifying raises at the greater of $50 million a year for four years or 10% of a project’s ancillary asset value, with a $200 million aggregate ceiling. The SEC’s standalone caps run higher and carry no named aggregate limit. If Congress passes the bill first, the legislative version would govern. If it fails, the SEC rule stands on its own.
The investor-protection fight
Not everyone welcomes the approach. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland warned in April that bespoke exemptions could “undermine decades of investor protections.” Former SEC Chief Accountant Lynn Turner has called the parallel statutory framework “severely deficient” and warned it could enable “another FTX-type fraud.” The core tradeoff is real: buyers in a Regulation Crypto offering would not automatically get the private right of action for material misstatements that attaches to fully registered securities. Lighter disclosure is the point, offered in exchange for bringing more activity onshore.
Frequently asked questions
What is Regulation Crypto?
It is the SEC’s proposed framework to exempt certain crypto fundraising from full securities registration. It would create three new paths built for digital assets: a temporary startup exemption of up to $5 million, a larger exemption of up to $75 million a year with audited financials, and a safe harbor for tokens that reach genuine decentralization.
When could the rule take effect?
Not soon. The proposal still needs clearance from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, formal publication, a public comment period, and a final Commission vote. That process usually runs six months to more than a year, putting the earliest effective date around mid-2027.
How is it different from the CLARITY Act?
Regulation Crypto is an SEC rule the agency can adopt on its own. The CLARITY Act is legislation that would restructure which regulator governs which assets and add protections for DeFi developers. The bill contains its own fundraising exemption with lower caps. If it passes before the SEC finalizes its rule, the statute would govern.
