Crypto lobby group Coin Center has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to stop addressing individual crypto cases reactively and instead set clear, general rules. In a letter dated March 5 and made public Tuesday, Coin Center warned that “individualized relief can provide short-term clarity, but it risks fragmentation, implicit merit regulation, and uneven treatment across projects,” and urged the regulator to “prioritize rulemaking wherever possible.”
“The true value of crypto networks lies in their character as utility-like public goods rather than as services operated by private corporations or associations,” the letter added.
Since the letter, the SEC released a notice interpreting how “non-security crypto assets” fall under federal securities laws and outlined a token taxonomy covering digital commodities, collectibles, tools, stablecoins, and securities. The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also signed a memorandum of understanding on March 12 to better coordinate market oversight, aiming to end decades of regulatory turf wars.
Coin Center argued that relying on case-by-case no-action letters creates market uncertainty and unfairness. Crypto-focused no-action letters have continued to appear, including a recent CFTC Market Participants Division no-action letter for crypto wallet provider Phantom Technologies, which said the division would, under certain circumstances, refrain from recommending enforcement for failure to register as a broker. The SEC has issued no-action letters to decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) projects and, in September, cleared the way for investment advisers to use state trust companies as crypto custodians via a no-action letter.
“If relief is granted selectively, the regulator inevitably puts its thumb on the scale in favor of networks or intermediaries that have the resources and incentives to pursue it,” Coin Center said, arguing that selective relief advantages those able to seek individualized rulings.
Separately, lawmakers are pursuing statutory fixes. The CLARITY Act, which aims to clarify regulatory oversight and assign clearer jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC for digital assets, is progressing through Congress and, if passed, would reduce ambiguity and promote more consistent treatment across the crypto industry.
