The SEC just put three new crypto-specific rulemaking initiatives on its 2026 Regulatory Agenda, released on July 7. It’s the clearest signal yet that the agency is done playing defense and is now actively building a framework for digital assets to exist within traditional securities law.

The three items target the areas that have caused the most headaches for crypto companies trying to operate in the US: how tokens can be offered to raise capital, how broker-dealers should handle crypto on their books, and how trading venues like alternative trading systems and national securities exchanges should structure digital asset markets.

What’s actually in the agenda

The first initiative (RIN 3235-AN38) addresses crypto asset offerings, essentially creating a pathway for projects to raise money through token sales without wondering if they’ll get an enforcement action six months later. The second (RIN 3235-AN48) proposes amendments to financial responsibility and reporting rules for broker-dealers that custody or trade crypto assets. The third (RIN 3235-AN49) targets market structure, specifically how alternative trading systems and national securities exchanges should handle digital asset trading.

All three sit at the initial rule stage, meaning they’re proposals rather than final rules. No immediate enforcement plans are attached. But their mere presence on the formal agenda carries weight, because it means the SEC has committed internal resources to developing them.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins framed the agenda as part of the broader push to establish the US as the “crypto capital of the world.” His stated goal: “clear rules of the road for capital raising with crypto assets” that would facilitate onchain trading and custody.

The five-category taxonomy that set the stage

These three proposals didn’t emerge from thin air. They build on a joint interpretive release the SEC issued alongside the CFTC back in March 2026, which established a five-category token taxonomy. That framework sorted digital assets into buckets: digital commodities, collectibles, tools, stablecoins, and securities.

That taxonomy was notable because it acknowledged something the previous administration refused to say out loud: not every token is a security. By defining categories where tokens explicitly fall outside the SEC’s jurisdiction, the March release gave the industry a starting framework. The three new agenda items are the logical next step, filling in the regulatory details for tokens that do fall within the SEC’s purview.