The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have recently released a highly anticipated document aimed at drawing clearer regulatory lines for digital assets. The document directly names 16 crypto assets, explicitly classifying them as digital commodities, thereby excluding their securities attributes under the federal legal framework. These 16 assets include: Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano, Avalanche, Chainlink, Polkadot, Hedera, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Shiba Inu, Stellar, Tezos, and Aptos.
Furthermore, the document further categorizes crypto assets into five major classes:
- Digital Commodities
- Digital Collectibles
- Digital Tools
- Stablecoins
- Digital Securities
This classification approach may signal the adoption of a shared classification system by the SEC and CFTC for evaluating the digital asset market in the future.
Decoding the Definition of "Digital Commodities"
The most impactful definition in the document is the elucidation of "digital commodities." Digital commodities are described as having value derived from the programmatic operation of a functional crypto system and supply and demand dynamics, rather than from expectations of profits based on the managerial efforts of others. Among these, "managerial efforts of others" is a core consideration in the SEC's analysis of crypto assets: do investors rely on the continuous operation of a team to profit? If the answer is yes, the likelihood of the asset being deemed a security increases; conversely, its securities attributes diminish.
Therefore, even if an asset is classified as a commodity, its practical application still requires attention to its marketing and positioning. Through statements, promises, and roadmaps, it is still possible to construct "expectations of profits from the efforts of others."
Clear Guidance on Three Long-Standing Areas of Controversy
The document released this time also directly addresses three activities that have caused years of uncertainty:
- Mining (Proof-of-Work): Protocol mining, the computational work performed by validators, is considered an administrative or ministerial activity, not a securities transaction.
- Staking (Proof-of-Stake): The guidance extends similar treatment to four staking models: independent staking, self-custodial staking with a third party, custodial staking arrangements, and liquid staking.
- Airdrops: Airdropping non-security crypto assets to recipients who have not provided money, goods, services, or other consideration does not fall under the purview of securities laws because it does not meet the first element of the Howey Test—an investment of money.
Even if you are not in the United States, these interpretations are significant, as U.S. regulatory interpretations often influence global norms, especially for exchanges, token issuers, wallets, and infrastructure providers.
Limitations to Note
It is important to emphasize that the document released is not a legal statute but an interpretive release. The relevant agencies have clearly stated that this is only a preliminary step intended to complement ongoing market structure work in Congress. For project founders and operators, understanding this distinction is crucial: interpretive releases can guide enforcement and regulation, but their content may change; statutory provisions, on the other hand, are more robust, less prone to change, and provide a stronger legal foundation.