1 month ago
A highly circumstantial taxonomy is needed for the U.S. to determination guardant with crypto regulation, the institution argued successful a missive to the agency.
Apr 25, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
Nasdaq, the relation of 1 of the premier U.S. banal exchanges and a crypto index, is advising the U.S. regulators to cautiously absorption connected defining integer assets successful 4 buckets that volition intelligibly find which bureau acts arsenic referee, according to a 23-page letter sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto task force.
"While a banal by immoderate different connection would inactive beryllium a stock, the existing marketplace ecosystem tin readily sorb integer assets by establishing the due taxonomy and calibrating definite rules to bespeak what is genuinely caller and caller astir integer assets," the missive argued successful effect to the invitation issued by the task force's chief, Commissioner Hester Peirce, to measurement successful connected aboriginal regulations.
The 4 aboriginal categories of integer assets, successful Nasdaq's view, should be:
- financial securities (tokens tied to assets that are securities nether existing definitions, similar stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFS), which Nasdaq said should beryllium treated conscionable the aforesaid arsenic their underlying assets);
- digital plus concern contracts (tokenized contracts that cheque each the securities boxes nether a "clarified version" of the Supreme Court's alleged Howey test);
- digital plus commodities (meeting the U.S. explanation of commodities)
- other integer assets (stuff that doesn't autumn anyplace other and shouldn't person rules for securities oregon commodities imposed connected it)
The securities categories beryllium successful the hands of the SEC, which volition beryllium moving with its relative agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, that volition grip the commodities. Those agencies — presumably directed astatine immoderate constituent by a caller crypto instrumentality hatched by Congress — volition fig retired the precise borderline betwixt their jurisdictions.
The letter, signed by John Zecca, the company's main regulator executive, argued that "digital assets that represent fiscal securities indispensable commercialized arsenic they bash today."
Nasdaq besides suggested that the 2 agencies should formulate a benignant of crossover trading designation for platforms that tin grip integer plus concern contracts, commodities and different types of assets nether 1 roof.
In the letter, Nasdaq underlined its digital-asset credibility, saying its "trading and clearing services, marketplace and trading surveillance, and cardinal securities depository exertion enactment integer assets platforms connected six continents." It contended that the regulators should see imposing information measures oregon further constraints connected firms that privation to grip investors' enactment from apical to bottom, which is the communal attack of existing crypto firms.
Read More: SEC 'Earnest' About Finding Workable Crypto Policy, Commissioners Say astatine Roundtable
Jesse Hamilton
Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's lawman managing exertion connected the Global Policy and Regulation team, based successful Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk successful 2022, helium worked for much than a decennary covering Wall Street regularisation astatine Bloomberg News and Businessweek, penning astir the aboriginal whisperings among national agencies trying to determine what to bash astir crypto. He’s won respective nationalist honors successful his reporting career, including from his clip arsenic a warfare analogous successful Iraq and arsenic a constabulary newsman for newspapers. Jesse is simply a postgraduate of Western Washington University, wherever helium studied journalism and history. He has nary crypto holdings.
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