Top U.S. financial regulators on Tuesday released rules for the cryptocurrency sector that could reduce regulatory requirements and which insiders say will benefit the Trump family’s businesses.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry to answer the long-standing question of what is and is not considered a security, a classification that involves strict oversight. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins called the framework a “symbolic taxonomy” for the industry. Published jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the guidelines classify most crypto assets as commodities, collectibles, payment tokens, or “digital tools,” exempting them from the SEC’s stricter oversight and disclosure requirements. Only blockchain-based representations of existing securities, such as stocks and bonds, remain classified as securities under this new framework.
Interviews with legal experts, lobbyists, and crypto entrepreneurs suggest that these new rules could significantly reduce much of the crypto industry’s existing regulatory and disclosure requirements, and could spur additional institutional financial interest in crypto-based activities – market shifts that could be a boon for the Trump family’s various crypto projects.
“This latest interpretation is consistent with other actions taken by the Trump administration to facilitate the continued expansion of for-profit but socially valueless cryptocurrency issuance and trading activities, free from most federal regulations,” said Todd Baker, a senior fellow at Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School.
During the second administration of Donald Trump, the SEC retreated from its previous approach under the Joe Biden administration, as well as the first Trump administration, which involved regulating the industry through frequent enforcement actions and approaching a wide range of cryptoassets as securities.
Atkins said Tuesday that the regulator is “no longer the ‘Securities and Everything Else Commission'” during his speech announcing the guidelines, which took place at the Blockchain Summit, a Washington, D.C.-based conference hosted by The Digital Chamber, a crypto-focused lobbying group.
His remarks drew applause from the assembled crowd and the industry as a whole. Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, said the SEC and CFTC announcements are “indicators that the agencies have a solid understanding of digital asset technology and the goal of balancing innovation with consumer protection,” and are a step toward solidifying “the United States’ role as the crypto capital of the world.”
In his official statement, Atkins said the guidelines were intended as a “bridge” while Congress works on more comprehensive legislation. That legislation, the Clarity Act, faces an uncertain future as it moves slowly through Congress, delayed in part by debates between crypto companies and banks over granting interest to stablecoin holders. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a major crypto lobbying group, said agency coordination “may help in the short term,” while legislation “would provide lasting certainty.”
New Regulations Exempt Trump Family Crypto Firms From SEC Oversight
The Trump family’s crypto initiatives span several categories that, according to Atkins’s “token taxonomy,” would be exempt from SEC oversight — namely projects involving “meme coins”: a type of cryptocurrency presented as purely speculative in nature. Before his second inauguration in January 2025, Trump launched his own coin, called $Trump. In May 2025, the President hosted the 220 largest buyers of $Trump and hosted a private “reception” for the 25 largest buyers, who spent approximately $148 million in $Trump tokens. First Lady Melania Trump also released a coin, called $Melania.
According to Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, a major cryptocurrency exchange, restricted security classifications could increase institutional investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies such as meme coins. Meme coins and other tokens were “previously considered high risk due to application uncertainty,” she said.
According to lead researcher Baker, the guidelines reaffirm that other Trump-affiliated crypto tokens will not be considered security. This includes the stablecoin USD1 – a crypto token whose value is pegged to the US dollar – as well as $WLFI, a “governance token” that gives holders the ability to vote on the development of a crypto project.
Both are issued by World Liberty Financial, the crypto company co-founded by members of the Trump family in 2024. A Wall Street Journal report suggests that the Trump family gained $5 billion in net worth after launching its $WLFI token in September 2025; Additional reporting from the outlet revealed that associates of an Abu Dhabi royal secretly purchased a secret 49% stake in World Liberty Financial in a financial deal valued at $500 million, raising questions about a pay-off bribery scheme. American Bitcoin Corp, co-founded by Trump’s sons, may see fewer changes.
“Compliance has always been World Liberty Financial’s top priority and, like all leading companies in the industry, we will continue to follow the rules established by regulators and legislators,” read a statement from World Liberty Financial. The company added that it had not corresponded with the SEC and CFTC about these new rules before they were announced.
According to Stephen Aschettino, a partner at law firm Fox Rothschild who focuses on crypto and financial technology, the new guidelines would classify meme coins as “digital collectibles,” which fall outside the jurisdiction of either the SEC or the CFTC. “This means there is no mandatory disclosure, (and) no anti-fraud protections under the securities laws,” Aschettino said. “This gap deserves special public attention. »
Although Atkins calls them a bridge, these rules could outlast Trump. Aschettino said that while regulatory guidelines could theoretically be rolled back by future administrations, it was more difficult to undo how crypto expansion could change financial markets.
