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This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <\/em>subscribe<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n About two weeks after the SEC formed a crypto task force<\/a>, unit leader Hester Peirce checked in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The rough message: We\u2019re working on a bunch of things, but please be patient.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peirce (no surprise) criticized the previous path taken by the SEC. It \u201cincessantly slammed on the enforcement brakes as it lurched along a meandering route with a destination not discernible to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, its handling of crypto \u201chas been marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality\u201d (in case you didn\u2019t already know how Peirce felt).\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019ll take time to \u201cdisentangle all these strands,\u201d she noted several times \u2014 ongoing litigation included. Seemingly related, the SEC plans to scale back staff focused on crypto enforcement actions, the New York Times reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among 10 listed priorities, Pierce notes the status of crypto assets under the securities laws as \u201cfundamental to resolving many other questions.\u201d This jibes with what Bitwise general counsel Katherine Dowling told me<\/a> about the \u201cdolphins in the fish nets\u201d \u2014 alluding to assets the SEC has previously labeled as securities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another priority is to identify areas that fall outside the SEC\u2019s jurisdiction \u2014 a signal the agency intends to stay in its lane.<\/p>\n Other focuses include creating a framework for custodying client assets; offering clarity on if and how crypto lending and staking programs are covered by securities laws; and creating some sort of cross-border sandbox for crypto projects.<\/p>\n On crypto ETFs, the task force will be clear about its approach when approving\/disapproving planned products, Peirce promises. As issuers look to add staking and in-kind creations\/redemptions to existing products, she added, the SEC may first need to make progress on custody (and other) issues.<\/p>\n The SEC is working toward these goals \u201cin an orderly, practical and legally defensible way,\u201d Peirce made clear.<\/p>\n And so, she reminds those eager for change: \u201cIt took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to take us some time to get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter<\/a> \u2014 market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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