SEC’s Long-Promised Crypto Safe Harbor to Be Introduced as Soon as This Month

The SEC said Tuesday that it plans to introduce its long-awaited crypto regulations as early as this month, bringing the agency one step closer to establishing a regulatory safe harbor for certain crypto-related activities in the United States.

An updated 2026 SEC calendar has the rule signed in for a possible release in July, which would then be followed by a period of public comment on the proposed policy.

The rules would govern the offer and sale of crypto assets, and also include “certain exemptions and safe harbors” for different types of on-chain financial activities.

The agenda update marks the clearest indication yet that the SEC is preparing to formally unveil its Regulation Crypto proposal, which Chairman Paul Atkins has been teasing for months, and initially said would be rolled out in January.

The exemptions would give crypto companies assurances that activities in certain areas, such as tokenized securities and decentralized finance, or DeFi, would not trigger enforcement actions from the SEC.

“To achieve President Trump’s goal of ensuring the United States is the crypto capital of the world, we are embracing innovation to land more products, creating clear rules for raising capital with crypto assets, and providing clarity on how market participants can store and facilitate trading of tokenized securities onchain,” Atkins said in a statement Tuesday.

Chairman of the SEC in March said a cryptocurrency safe haven could apply to startups valued up to $5 million that want to experiment with crypto assets in their first four years; to entrepreneurs raising up to $75 million through investment contracts involving certain crypto assets; and on certain crypto assets once their creators have ceased all essential management efforts.

Atkins earlier emphasized that the uncertain status of Congress’ Clarity Act – a sweeping bill that would legalize most crypto activities in the United States – had influenced the SEC’s rollout of its own crypto rules.

After more than a year of starts and stops, the Clarity Act faces do-or-die in the Senate in the coming weeks. Stakeholders broadly agree that if the bill does not pass in August, it is unlikely to become law this year due to the looming midterm elections in November.