US securities regulator cancels meeting to vote on crypto rules

US securities regulator cancels meeting to vote on crypto rules

Fri, August 14, 2026 at 12:48 AM GMT+3 2 min read

By Hannah Lang

Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose ‌new crypto-related rules.

In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be ‌moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."

The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow ​crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.

The delay comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, ‌if passed, would create new federal ⁠rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.

Under Trump's SEC Chair Paul Atkins, the agency has ⁠reversed its crypto policy, laying out sweeping plans to overhaul capital markets regulations to accommodate tokens and blockchain-based trading. Its previous Democratic leader had sued multiple crypto companies, alleging their tokens were ​effectively securities ​and that they should have complied with SEC ​registration and disclosure rules.

Crypto companies say ‌most tokens more closely resemble commodities than securities, a position Atkins has backed.

In March, he suggested the SEC would propose rules creating a safe harbor that would make it easier for companies to sell tokens and raise money. He also said the agency was considering a "fit-for-purpose startup exemption," which would allow crypto entrepreneurs to raise a certain amount of money or operate ‌for a finite period while exempt from SEC rules.

Trump, ​who courted crypto cash on the campaign trail and ​whose family has profited from its ​own token, has prioritized crypto reform during his second administration.

Under Trump, the ‌SEC moved swiftly last year to rescind ​stringent crypto accounting guidance ​and dismiss lawsuits against Coinbase, Binance and others that had alleged those companies were flouting the agency's rules.

The SEC is also working on an "innovation exemption" that Atkins has ​said would allow companies to ‌experiment with new digital asset business models, such as blockchain-based stocks, without having to ​comply with all SEC disclosure and investor safeguards.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New ​York; Editing by Rod Nickel and Shri Navaratnam)