SEC Chair backs ‘super-app’ crypto platforms, leaner regulations – Details

Key Takeaways

The SEC chair has proposed a leaner and single regulatory framework for “super-app” platforms that handle crypto activities like trading, lending, staking, etc. 

Paul Atkins, Chair of the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is in the news today after he clarified that most “crypto tokens are not securities.” In fact, he is now openly supporting the ability to raise capital on-chain without legal hiccups. 

During an address at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in France on 10 September,  Atkins added, 

“And we must allow for ‘super-app’ trading platform innovation that increases choice for market participants.”

In essence, “super apps” can allow users to trade, save, lend, borrow, and even stake digital assets in a single platform. 

A push towards regulatory clarity

For the Chair, the “super apps” and their collective activities can be addressed by a single streamlined framework to reduce costs for entrepreneurs. He noted, 

“I believe regulators should provide the minimum effective dose of regulation needed to protect investors, and no more…We should not overburden entrepreneurs with duplicative rules that only the largest incumbents can bear.”

Currently, each crypto activity, whether trading and brokerage, custody, payments, lending, or staking, is treated separately from a regulatory standpoint.

Hence, Atkins’ statement signals readiness for a more lean and smoother approval process. 

In fact, this is part of the agency’s Project Crypto agenda to bring financial markets on-chain, but with clear rules for the road. In collaboration with the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint, regulators have promised to offer more regulatory clarity in the coming weeks. 

This also comes at a time when the Congress is pushing to advance the Republican-led crypto market structure bill. Worth noting, however, that some Democrats have warned that the process shouldn’t be slow and exhaustive for better outcomes. 

SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw holds the same position too. In June, she urged her colleagues to move slowly to get the rules right.

“With issues this complex and stakes this high, it’s better to do it right than fast. We need to grapple with the tough questions through the legally sanctioned process of formal rulemaking.”