In the United States, the SEC regulates securities and securities-law conduct; the CFTC administers the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), especially for commodity derivatives and other activity within its statutory remit. A crypto asset can raise questions for both agencies—or neither—depending on what rights it represents, how it is offered or sold, and what market activity is involved. A token’s name or blockchain connection does not decide the answer.
Which U.S. agency regulates which crypto activities?
The first distinction is between the asset or instrument and the conduct involving it. The SEC asks whether an instrument is a security, or whether an offer or sale involving a crypto asset is subject to securities laws. The CFTC asks whether the relevant asset is a commodity and whether the activity falls within the CEA. Commodity status by itself does not mean every spot transaction receives the same CFTC oversight.
| Agency | Core question | Crypto activity to examine |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | Is the instrument a security, or does the transaction involve an offer or sale subject to securities laws? | Offers and sales of securities, including crypto assets that are securities, and transactions involving a non-security crypto asset sold subject to an investment contract. |
| CFTC | Is the asset a commodity, and does the activity fall within the CEA? | Commodity derivatives, such as futures or swaps, and other market activity within the CFTC’s statutory remit. The specific activity matters; commodity classification alone does not settle the treatment of every spot transaction. |
| Potentially both | Do different features of the asset and its market activity raise separate securities-law and commodity-law questions? | For example, a blockchain representation may embody a security, while commodity derivatives or related conduct in the same ecosystem may present CEA questions. |
This is not a system in which every token or ecosystem receives one permanent agency label. Analyze the instrument and the activity separately.
When does the SEC regulate crypto?
The SEC’s April 2026 educational explainer says the agency regulates offers and sales of all securities, including crypto assets when they qualify as securities. A crypto asset that is not itself a security may still be involved in an investment contract. That means the analysis cannot stop at the token’s technical design or label: the circumstances of the offer or sale and any associated promises or managerial efforts can matter.
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The joint SEC–CFTC interpretation issued March 17, 2026, and effective March 23, 2026, discusses how a non-security crypto asset may become subject to—or cease to be subject to—an investment contract. It also addresses protocol mining, protocol staking, wrapping, and airdrops. These topics are fact-sensitive; their names alone do not establish a securities-law result.
When does the CFTC regulate crypto?
The CFTC administers the CEA. The joint interpretation says that certain crypto assets that are not securities may meet the CEA definition of “commodity.” The next question is what activity is taking place. Futures, swaps, and other derivatives are not the same as a spot purchase, and commodity status alone does not establish that all spot trading is subject to identical CFTC oversight.
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For a particular transaction, identify whether it is spot or a derivative and then ask whether that market activity falls within the CEA. The CFTC’s role should be described in terms of its statutory authority over the conduct at issue, not inferred solely from the word “commodity.”
How the 2026 interpretation describes crypto asset categories
The joint interpretation groups crypto assets into five categories. Its descriptions distinguish assets that are not themselves securities from instruments that meet the legal definition of a security. Stablecoins require attention to their particular features.
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| Category | What the interpretation says |
|---|---|
| Digital commodities | As described in the interpretation, not themselves securities; certain non-security crypto assets may also meet the CEA definition of commodity. |
| Digital collectibles | As described in the interpretation, not themselves securities. |
| Digital tools | As described in the interpretation, not themselves securities. |
| Stablecoins | Require analysis of their specific characteristics. The SEC’s public explainer says payment stablecoins, subject to the GENIUS Act’s terms, are generally not securities; other stablecoins may be securities depending on their features. |
| Digital securities | Financial instruments that meet the definition of “security” and are represented as crypto assets. |
These categories help organize the analysis, but they do not make every classification mechanical. The interpretation notes that assets, network functionality, control, and associated conduct vary.
A practical way to analyze a crypto activity
For a specific token, transaction, or protocol, work through these questions in order rather than relying on a marketing term or a broad label for the ecosystem:
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- Identify the instrument. What rights and functions does the asset have? Is it a financial instrument represented on a blockchain, a stablecoin, or another kind of crypto asset?
- Examine the offer or sale. What did an issuer, promoter, or other party promise, and what managerial efforts were associated with the transaction? Consider whether a non-security asset was sold subject to an investment contract.
- Identify the conduct and market. Is the activity an offer or sale, a secondary transaction, a spot purchase, or a futures, swaps, or other derivatives transaction?
- Ask each agency’s question separately. Apply the securities-law analysis to the instrument and conduct, and separately consider whether the asset is a commodity and whether the activity is governed by the CEA.
- Check the authority behind the conclusion. Distinguish binding law and precedent from an agency interpretation or nonbinding staff material.
What the interpretation settles—and what it does not
The March 2026 joint interpretation is current agency guidance on the application of federal securities laws to crypto assets, but it does not replace the Howey test, which the release identifies as binding legal precedent. A conclusion about a named token, protocol, or transaction therefore depends on the full facts and the law in effect at the relevant time.
SEC Division of Corporation Finance FAQs issued September 25, 2026, offer the staff’s reading of the interpretation. The SEC page expressly describes them as staff views—not a rule, regulation, or Commission statement—and says they create no additional obligations. They should not be presented as binding law.
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Scope: U.S. federal law
This explanation concerns U.S. federal agency jurisdiction. It does not determine how a state, another country, a later statute, a court decision, or a subsequent agency action may affect a particular crypto activity. For a real transaction, the applicable facts and current law matter.
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