Odaily Planet Daily reports: Alex Thorn, Head of Galaxy Research, wrote on X that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued landmark guidance this week, clearly categorizing digital assets into five types: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities (or tokenized securities), and explicitly stating that only the last category qualifies as securities and must be registered under federal securities laws or qualify for an exemption. This 2026 guidance replaces the “investment contract” analytical framework from the Chair Clayton era and is a commission-level interpretive document approved by a full vote of SEC commissioners and published in the Federal Register. It marks a shift in the SEC’s approach to digital asset regulation from the hostile and ambiguous rules of the Gensler era toward a more structured, transparent, and industry-supportive stance, with key changes including:
Non-security digital assets may be freely traded on secondary markets after the issuer has completed its core management obligations and are no longer continuously regarded as securities;
Eliminate "sufficient decentralization" as a criterion and instead rely on public commitments made by the issuer;
Provide clear safe harbor provisions stating that airdrops, mining, and staking typically do not constitute securities transactions;
The scope of "Efforts of Others" has been significantly narrowed to focus solely on the issuer's core management commitments, disregarding third-party market hype or community commentary.
The guidance was jointly issued with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which agreed to follow the SEC’s interpretation that non-securities assets can be classified as “commodities.” This guidance definitively ends the regulatory approach of the Gary Gensler era, provides clear market expectations, and lays the foundation for further institutionalization of digital assets—though it may still be subject to change with future SEC leadership transitions. This policy shift underscores a more mature regulatory approach to digital assets. Alex Thorn also echoed industry calls for the CLARITY Act, which could offer more enduring legal protections to support the long-term development of Bitcoin and other crypto assets within U.S. capital markets.