US SEC Cancels Open Meeting on Crypto Asset Fundraising Rule: New Date Undecided

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has canceled an open meeting that had been scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern Time on August 14.

The agenda item was to consider whether to propose a separate securities issuance regime tailored to certain crypto asset related investment contracts. Rather than a rule covering the issuance and trading of all crypto assets, it concerns establishing a fundraising procedure specific to cases where a crypto asset is sold as part of an investment contract and is therefore subject to US securities law.

The SEC has been reviewing registration exemptions that could be applied to crypto asset projects separately from the existing securities registration regime, along with investor protection and disclosure requirements. However, because the actual proposal has not been released, specifics such as the scope of application, fundraising limits, and conditions for registration exemption have not been confirmed.

Blockmedia reported that the meeting was postponed due to an unexpected scheduling conflict and that it would be held again at a later date. The official cancellation notice released by the SEC, however, did not state a reason for the cancellation or a date for rescheduling.

Even if the meeting had gone ahead, the rule would not have taken effect immediately. Under the structure in place, if the SEC commissioners had voted in favor of releasing the rule proposal, the proposal would then be published and put through a comment period, after which a decision on final adoption would be made again.

Metanomia View

It is reasonable to view this cancellation as a temporary halt in the rule proposal process rather than a change in policy direction. The scheduled meeting itself was not an occasion to finalize a deregulatory measure, but a stage for deciding whether to release a proposal and begin the comment process.

The key to future judgment lies in the content of the actual proposal. What must be confirmed is the scope of the investment contracts subject to it, the conditions for registration exemption, issuance limits, disclosure obligations, and investor protection safeguards.

Until the proposal is released, one cannot conclude that crypto asset issuance regulation has been eased. The point at which substantive change reaches the market will also come not at the open meeting, but after the comment period and final adoption procedures are complete.

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