Crypto Regulation: The SEC Sets Out Its Three Priorities for 2026

The SEC places crypto regulation, IPOs, and private markets at the heart of its 2026 agenda. Its chairman Paul Atkins wants to clarify the custody of digital assets, regulate tokenized securities, and facilitate capital raising. Washington wants to modernize its markets without abandoning investor protection.

Crypto: The SEC Wants to Bring Innovation Back to the United States

The first priority concerns crypto. The SEC wants to create clearer rules for companies raising capital with digital assets. This line extends the crypto project, launched to modernize the American framework.

Paul Atkins believes the United States must become the center of gravity for financial innovation again. The goal is no longer just to sanction after the fact. The SEC wants to set rules before products leave American territory.

This approach marks a break with years of confrontation. Crypto players had long demanded a predictable framework. They criticized the old model for turning every launch into a legal gamble. The second crypto priority focuses on custody and trading of tokenized securities. The SEC wants to clarify how intermediaries can hold these assets and facilitate their on-chain trading.

This point is central. Tokenized securities represent shares, bonds, or fund units on a blockchain. They do not escape securities law, even if they circulate on a crypto infrastructure.

The SEC had already reiterated this line with its tokenized securities. The new agenda now seeks to turn this doctrine into rules more usable by platforms, brokers, and custodians. The issue goes beyond classic cryptos. If Wall Street adopts tokenization, the SEC will have to regulate markets capable of operating faster, sometimes longer, with new risks in settlement and custody.

IPOs Return in the American Strategy

The second major priority on the agenda concerns initial public offerings. Paul Atkins wants to reverse the decline in the number of listed companies in the United States. According to him, fewer IPOs mean less access for ordinary savers to the growth of large companies. The SEC therefore wants to reduce certain compliance burdens while maintaining essential protections.

This reform does not directly concern crypto, but it addresses the same problem: access to capital. Innovative companies must be able to finance themselves without remaining locked into private markets. The regulator also wants to make disclosure obligations more efficient. The challenge will be to simplify without weakening transparency. A more accessible IPO should not become a less clear IPO.

The third priority targets private markets. The SEC wants to facilitate the participation of retail investors in certain assets until now reserved for wealthy insiders. This opening could change the structure of American financing. Many companies remain private longer, which deprives part of the public of their growth before the IPO.

However, the SEC promises safeguards. Private markets are less transparent, less liquid, and harder to value. Risks there are often higher than on public markets. For the crypto sector, this reform can create common ground with tokenization. Shares of private companies, funds, or real assets could be distributed more widely in digital form. But this scenario will require strict rules on information, custody, and liquidity.