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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new Crypto Task Force has announced the topics for the next four roundtables in its ongoing series discussing digital asset regulation. Key issues to be covered include tailored regulation, custody, tokenization, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Acting SEC Chairman Mark T. Uyeda launched the Crypto Task Force on January 21. Its goal is to “help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”
The task force’s first series of roundtables, announced on March 3, was named the “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity” series, which kicked off on March 21 with the inaugural roundtable “How We Got Here and How We Get Out—Defining Security Status.”
According to the SEC’s March 25 notification, the dates and topics for its following roundtables are:
- April 11 – Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading
- April 25 – Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody
- May 12 – Tokenization – Moving Assets Onchain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet
- June 6 – DeFi and the American Spirit
Each roundtable will be open to the public at the SEC’s headquarters and streamed live on SEC.gov. The task force also invited panelists to speak at the events.
“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them,” said Commissioner Hester “crypto mom” Peirce, head of the Crypto Task Force.
Beyond the titles, the SEC did not elaborate further on what will be discussed during the events, but it said more information about each session, including the agenda and speakers, will be posted as they become available.
Crypto Task Force
The task force was launched in January, and along with Commissioner Peirce, it is made up of staff from SEC Acting Chair Uyeda’s office and other divisions across the Commission.
Key names on the 14-member task force include ‘chief counsel’ Mike Selig, who was previously a New York-based partner at international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was a member of the firm’s digital asset practice; ‘senior advisors’ Landon Zinda, former policy director at digital asset think tank Coin Center; and ‘senior advisors’ Veronica Reynolds, former attorney at Baker Hostetler LLP focused on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse-related legal issues.
The same day its members were announced—March 3—the task force also launched the roundtable series, with the inaugural session being named and scheduled for March 21.
First Roundtable
Titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out—Defining Security Status,” the first roundtable discussed how to define digital assets within the U.S. regulatory system and, importantly, whether they can be classified as securities.
On this latter, most contentious topic, the task force spent a substantial amount of time debating the Howey Test to classify a security—i.e., Is it an investment of money in a common enterprise, with an expectation of profits solely from the efforts of others?
The debate went back and forth, with no apparent consensus being reached during the session, except that the digital asset space should not be allowed to operate in regulatory ambiguity.
Other issues discussed included whether the digital asset industry has done enough to comply with existing regulations or whether the SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement approach created an unworkable system that made compliance almost impossible.
In its closing remarks to the inaugural roundtable, the task force reiterated the importance of the series, arguing that “many have long asked for a regulatory framework for crypto—one that’s workable—and now we have the opportunity to be part of constructing that.”
The SEC’s latest announcement concluded with a call for participants who want to be a part of this construction process, urging parties interested in being on the panel for one of the upcoming roundtables to get in touch with the task force.
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