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Today in crypto, the SEC is drafting an “innovation exemption” to speed approvals of digital-asset products. Meanwhile, blockchain payment company Fnality raised $136 million from major banks to grow its settlement network, and US lawmakers pressed for crypto in retirement plans.
US SEC eyes ‘innovation exemption’ to fast-track digital asset products: Atkins
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is working to create an “innovation exemption” that would ease approval of digital-asset products by the end of the year, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said on Tuesday.
During an interview on Fox Business, Atkins told anchor Maria Bartiromo that the SEC is working on “rulemaking in the coming months.”
We’re looking for an innovation exemption — to try to get that in place by year end.”
An “innovation exemption” would function as a regulatory carve-out, giving crypto companies temporary relief from older securities rules to roll out new products under lighter oversight while the SEC develops tailored regulations.
Atkins addressed a question about the recent approval of the first multi-asset crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) in the United States. Launched on Friday, the product gives investors access to Bitcoin
, Ether
, XRP
, Solana
and Cardano
. Grayscale's crypto fund launched under the SEC's recently announced generic listing standards, which reduce approval timelines for ETFs under Rule 6c-11.
According to Atkins, the new listing standards are “another example of how we can move forward. “It’s not just an ad hoc type of approach. We’re trying to give the marketplace some kind of stable platform upon which they can introduce new products.”
SEC Chair Paul Atkins speaking on Fox Business on Tuesday. Source: Fox Business
Blockchain payment firm Fnality raises $136 million in round led by major banks
London-based blockchain payments company Fnality secured $136 million in a Series C funding round backed by some of the world’s largest financial institutions.
Bank of America, Citi, KBC Group, Temasek, Tradeweb and WisdomTree led the round, joined by returning investors including Goldman Sachs, Santander, Barclays and UBS, according to a Tuesday announcement by the company.
“The closing of our Series C reflects a shared conviction that the future of money demands a new foundation,” Fnality CEO Michelle Neal said. She added that the company’s blockchain-based settlement systems offer “24/7 payment rails, real-time settlement, and enhanced liquidity.”
Fnality, which launched its sterling-denominated Fnality Payment System in the United Kingdom last year, aims to modernize wholesale payments through a blockchain-based infrastructure tied to central bank reserves. The new capital will help Fnality expand into the US dollar and euro markets, pending regulatory approvals, it said.
Fnality raises $136 million. Source: Fnality
US lawmakers urge SEC to act on Trump’s crypto retirement plan
US lawmakers have called on Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins to help accelerate the executive order enabling crypto investments in US 401(k) retirement plans.
In the letter on Monday, nine lawmakers, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Subcommittee on Capital Markets Chairman Ann Wagner, said that Atkins was asked to “provide swift assistance” to the Secretary of Labor and to make any necessary adjustments to its current regulations and guidance.
US lawmakers’ letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Source: French Hill
They also noted that under President Donald Trump’s August executive order on “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors,” the SEC was instructed to make alternative assets like crypto more accessible in participant-directed retirement plans, in consideration of accredited investor and qualified purchaser rules.
“We are hopeful that such actions will help the 90 million Americans that are currently restricted from investing in alternative assets to secure a dignified, comfortable retirement,” the nine lawmakers said.
