The SEC Removes Cryptocurrencies from 2026 Exam Priorities in a Major Regulatory Change

Source: Yellow Original Title: The SEC Removes Cryptocurrencies from 2026 Exam Priorities in a Major Regulatory Shift

Original Link: The SEC's Office of Examination published its 2026 examination priorities on Monday, focusing on core areas such as fiduciary duty, standards of conduct, and the custody rule, without making specific mention of cryptocurrencies or digital assets. Instead, the agency will examine compliance with new regulations, including the 2024 amendments to Regulation S-P, which governs the protection of customer information.

The omission marks a notable deviation from previous years. Under former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the agency explicitly highlighted the offering, selling, trading, and advisory activities surrounding cryptocurrency assets in its 2025 priorities, with spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs directly named as areas of focus. The Division of Examinations had committed to closely monitoring companies offering cryptocurrency-related services, stating that it would continue to examine registrants given the volatilities in the cryptocurrency markets.

The SEC chairman, Paul Atkins, framed the new priorities as part of a more cooperative approach to regulation. “Examinations are an important component of fulfilling the agency's mission, but they should not be a 'surprise' exercise,” Atkins said in a statement. “Today's release of the examination priorities should allow companies to prepare a constructive dialogue with the SEC examiners and provide transparency about the priorities of the agency's most public division.”

The 15-page document highlights several key areas for fiscal year 2026. The SEC will prioritize information security, including ransomware preparedness, AI-related cybersecurity risks, identity theft prevention under Regulation S-ID, and preparation for updated requirements of Regulation S-P. The agency also highlighted the risks associated with emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and automated investment tools, as areas where it will examine whether company controls align with their disclosures and provide appropriate recommendations.

The SEC clarified that its stated priorities “are not exhaustive,” leaving open the possibility that digital asset companies may still be examined through other approaches. However, the complete absence of cryptocurrencies in the document represents what industry observers see as a significant signal about the direction of the agency.

A Pro-Crypto Administration Takes Shape

The change is aligned with the broader pro-crypto direction seen under the current administration, whose administration has been active in deregulating the sector while its family has expanded its presence in crypto with a trading platform, mining business, stablecoin, and token.

Atkins, who took office in April, stated at an early SEC roundtable that crypto innovation “has been stifled over the past few years” and that changes were urgently needed. Since then, the agency has rescinded Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, a rule established under Gensler's tenure that treated cryptocurrency holdings as liabilities on banks' balance sheets and effectively blocked institutional adoption. The SEC also issued guidance indicating that it does not consider most memecoins to be securities under federal law.

In November, Atkins outlined the SEC's “Crypto Project” initiative, announcing plans to establish a “token taxonomy” that would provide a clearer classification for digital assets. The framework would distinguish between tokens that qualify as securities and those that do not, potentially resolving years of regulatory uncertainty that forced many cryptocurrency companies to operate overseas.

Atkins emphasized that cryptocurrencies can be part of an investment contract, but they may not necessarily remain that way permanently, acknowledging that networks mature, code is deployed, control is dispersed, and the role of issuers diminishes over time.

Regulatory Uncertainty Persists Despite a Softer Approach

While the exam priorities suggest a lighter oversight, experts warn that regulatory uncertainty is far from resolved. The crypto industry still faces overlapping jurisdictions between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, creating compliance challenges for companies that are unsure which agency regulates their activities.

Congress is working to address this through legislation. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 was passed by the House in July with bipartisan support, establishing clear jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC, while creating tailored registration and compliance regimes for digital asset intermediaries. The bill defines “digital commodities” as assets intrinsically linked to blockchain systems, granting the CFTC exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over these products, while preserving the SEC's authority over investment contracts.

The CLARITY Act would establish three new categories of registration under the jurisdiction of the CFTC: Digital Product Exchanges, Digital Product Brokers, and Digital Product Traders, roughly analogous to the existing frameworks for futures markets. The legislation is now awaiting consideration by the Senate.

International compliance obligations are also on the horizon. The Crypto Asset Reporting Framework of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development requires cryptocurrency service providers in 69 participating jurisdictions to collect detailed customer information and report it annually to tax authorities, with the first exchanges expected to begin in 2027.

The SEC Reduces Review of Shareholder Proposals

In a separate development affecting corporate governance, the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance announced significant changes in how it handles shareholder proposals.

Due to resource limitations following the closure of the federal government and a large backlog of submissions, the Division will not respond to most requests for non-action for the 2025-2026 representation season. It will only review requests that meet specific criteria.

For other exclusion bases, companies may send notifications with a representation that they have reasonable grounds to exclude proposals, but the SEC will not evaluate the reasoning nor express opinions on the merits. This effectively shifts the responsibility to issuers to assess and document their own exclusion decisions.

Final Reflections

The removal of a section dedicated to cryptocurrencies from the examination priorities shows that cryptocurrencies are moving towards regulatory normalcy, where digital assets are treated as traditional financial products rather than high-risk outliers requiring special scrutiny.

However, analysts warn that the absence of cryptocurrencies from the priority list does not mean that the industry is free of risks or beyond regulatory reach. The SEC may continue to examine companies based on their particular risk profiles, which means that digital asset companies remain within the oversight perimeter of the agency, even if they are no longer at the top of its stated agenda.

For now, the crypto industry seems to have gained traction under an administration eager to position the United States as a global leader in digital asset innovation. Whether this translates into sustainable growth or simply a deferred regulatory calculation will depend on how Congress, the courts, and future administrations define the rules that are still being written.