🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This interpretive guidance follows a pro-crypto framework announced last year

• The token taxonomy first appeared in a November 2025 speech by SEC chairman Paul Atkins 1.
• It groups crypto assets into four buckets, which are digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, and tokenized securities 1.
• The framework says tokenized securities still count as securities under federal securities laws. Atkins has said digital commodities, digital collectibles, and digital tools do not qualify as securities 1.
• The guidance also says an asset’s status under securities laws can shift over time. Atkins said that when an investment contract has “run its course,” later trades in the related token may stop being securities transactions 2.

Regulatory clarity could open the door to new financial products and platforms

• The taxonomy could let tokens that no longer involve securities transactions trade on venues outside SEC oversight, including CFTC-registered or state-regulated platforms 3.
• Atkins has backed financial “super-apps,” which are platforms that combine custody, trading, lending, staking, tokenized securities, and non-security tokens in one place 1.
• Recent SEC staff FAQs say bitcoin and ether may count as “readily marketable” assets for certain net capital calculations. Staff also said it “will not object” if broker-dealers use a 2% haircut instead of 100% for certain qualifying payment stablecoins when calculating net capital 4.
• The SEC move fits within a wider government effort, including the White House, to build a comprehensive U.S. digital-asset market structure 5.