The SEC Just Rewrote the Rules on Crypto: What Compliance Teams Need to Do Now

On March 17, 2026, the SEC issued a formal interpretation of how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. The CFTC joined, aligning its guidance under the Commodity Exchange Act. It’s operative now — not proposed, not pending. For CCOs, that means the clock is already running.

The interpretation establishes a five-category token taxonomy. For compliance teams, the obligation is straightforward: every digital asset your firm or its employees touch needs to be classified, in writing, before your next examination.

• Digital Commodities, Digital Collectibles, Digital Tools, GENIUS Act Stablecoins — None of these are securities.
• Digital Securities (tokenized assets) — Securities. Full securities law obligations apply.

If your program doesn’t have a documented classification policy yet, Comply’s Cryptocurrency Glossary and cryptocurrency reporting resources are the right starting points.

This is the most consequential shift in the interpretation. Previously, any token sold as part of an investment contract carried perpetual securities obligations. The SEC has explicitly rejected that position: investment contracts terminate when an issuer fulfills its representations and promises — or definitively fails to.

If your firm or its employees hold tokens from early offerings, those assets may no longer be securities. That analysis needs to be completed and documented. It has direct implications for your classification records, trading policies, and LP disclosures.

Protocol mining, protocol staking, wrapping of non-security crypto assets, and certain airdrops are all explicitly outside securities law. That doesn’t mean they’re outside your compliance program — it means your personal trading and pre-clearance policies need to reflect their actual status.

If you’ve been treating these activities with securities-law caution, that’s a policy gap that needs to close. Comply’s Personal Account Dealing & Digital Asset Trade Monitoring platform handles pre-clearance, monitoring, and audit documentation for crypto activities within the same system as traditional securities.

1. Classify and document. Map all firm and employee digital asset exposure against the five-category taxonomy. Get it in writing.
2. Run the investment contract analysis. Identify past token holdings. Assess whether the contract has terminated. Update records.
3. Update trading and pre-clearance policies. Staking, mining, wrapping, and airdrops are cleared — your policies should say so.
4. Tighten disclosures. The interpretation places new weight on the source, medium, and specificity of representations made to investors.
5. Track what’s coming. Custody rule updates and crypto offering safe harbors are expected later in 2026. Comply’s SEC Regulatory Agenda breakdown keeps you ahead of it.

Comply’s compliance program management solutions are built to turn this kind of regulatory shift into a structured, exam-ready program – fast.