The SEC's top agenda for the new year: It plans to launch an encryption "innovation exemption" mechanism at the end of January next year, and cooperate with Congress to clarify the legislative rules for crypto regulation

According to news on December 10, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins used the metaphor of "good play is yet to come" to reveal the agency's ambition for the agency's crypto regulatory agenda in 2026.

He made it clear that all the "policy seeds" sown over the past period will sprout at the beginning of the new year, aiming to provide a clear and systematic regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry.

At the heart of this agenda is the SEC's plan to introduce a regulatory relief mechanism called "innovation exemptions" by the end of January 2026, aiming to provide a set of "conditional and time-bound" rules for crypto and fintech projects that meet certain conditions to encourage startups to innovate under the premise of legal compliance.

Meanwhile, SEC Chair Atkins is closely following the advancement of a comprehensive crypto regulation bill at the congressional level, with the core goal of clarifying the boundaries of regulatory jurisdiction between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

He made it clear that the SEC will "wait and see the legislative outcome of Congress" and said that the agency is willing to further refine and enforce regulatory rules on the basis of the legislation providing clearer authorization. This series of forward-looking measures also marks a fundamental shift in the SEC's regulatory strategy.

In addition, the implementation of these measures and the adjustment of strategies also mean that the SEC is shifting from the past "enforcement supervision" model to actively building a "rule supervision" system aimed at accommodating and regulating innovation, aiming to protect investors and promote industry innovation with clear and predictable regulations.

In summary, Chairman Atkins' speech not only outlines specific tasks for the new year but also confirms the historic evolution of the position of the top U.S. securities regulator on crypto assets.

At the same time, with the successive introduction of the "innovation exemption" framework and its close interaction with congressional legislation, the regulatory certainty of the US crypto market is expected to be significantly enhanced in 2026.

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