These charges come just one day after the new SEC Chair was sworn in. It may augur what SEC enforcement related to crypto will look like going forward. This case returns the SEC's focus to alleged fraud and misappropriation. It does not attempt to or rely on defining a crypto asset. That shift reflects the new Chair's articulated goal to move away from regulation by enforcement.

With a market structure act for digital assets potentially on the horizon, and stablecoin legislation…

Paul Atkins taking the reins at the SEC is significant. In laying out digital assets as a major priority for the agency, he has charted out a major new: one focused on providing clarity for crypto.

Mr. Atkins has significant crypto experience; he worked with The Digital Chamber's crypto working groups in the past. Mr. Atkins will be offering opening remarks at this Friday's Crypto Task Force roundtable focused on custody. It is expected that he will expound on the importance of…

SEC Crypto Task Force Chair Hester Peirce  crypto-lending as an area to investigate, though noted that "participation in traditional securities lending programs, such as fully paid securities lending programs offered by broker-dealers, generally does not represent a new securities transaction or implicate Investment Company Act registration requirements." If so, perhaps these earn products are not as much of an issue.

The current lack of clarity from regulators and…

The SEC has been dropping exchange suits left and right—a sign that the agency is moving past the era of regulation by enforcement. That isn't to say that exchanges and protocols are civil lawsuit-free. Despite one  in the Second Circuit, more private suits are likely to come. Securities Act Section fractured jurisprudence still leaves open the possibility of individual judges finding that some cryptocurrencies are securities, and ultimately finding liability against protocols and…