The recent guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) creating a taxonomy for digital assets marked, in Alex Thorn’s view, the end of SEC policy under former Chair Gary Gensler. Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, said the guidance—published Tuesday—divides digital assets into five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles (such as non-fungible tokens), digital tools, stablecoins, and tokenized securities.
Crucially, Thorn noted the new 2026 guidance was filed as an interpretive rule rather than the legislative or substantive rule that previously governed how cryptocurrencies were judged to be “investment contracts.” Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), legislative rules generally require notice-and-comment rulemaking, have the force and law, and bind agencies and regulated parties. By contrast, interpretive rules are exempt from notice-and-comment, do not carry the force of law, and explain how an agency interprets existing statutes. That means the SEC’s interpretation does not legally bind courts and leaves room for both the agency and the crypto industry to adapt as regulations evolve.
Thorn said the interpretive rule provides much-needed clarity for the industry over the next roughly 30 months, but he emphasized that the CLARITY crypto market-structure bill must be enacted into law to set durable rules for the coming decades.
The CLARITY Act had stalled in January 2025 after Coinbase and other industry participants raised objections to provisions including a ban on stablecoin yield and insufficient protections for open-source software developers. Many in the sector also warned the bill’s reporting requirements and know-your-customer controls would effectively undermine decentralized finance (DeFi).
On Friday, Politico reported a tentative deal between the White House and lawmakers to advance the CLARITY bill. Details remain scarce, though Senator Angela Alsobrooks said the tentative agreement would include a ban on stablecoin yield from “passive balances.”
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