A March 17, 2026, SEC-CFTC interpretive release sets out five categories for digital assets: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins and digital securities; the first four are generally not securities, while tokenized traditional securities remain covered by securities laws.

The release also says a token sale may initially qualify as an investment contract under the Howey test, but that contract can end as a network becomes functional and decentralized and no longer relies on an issuer’s ongoing managerial efforts.

Meanwhile, the SEC’s temporary innovation exemption lets platforms using distributed ledger technology experiment with trading tokenized securities as permanent market-structure rules are developed.

A memorandum of understanding between the SEC and CFTC aims to harmonize definitions, coordinate oversight and share data; it could reduce duplicative enforcement and help companies argue that a matter belongs with one regulator rather than both.

The SEC has dismissed or declined to pursue more than a dozen matters begun under the prior administration, including actions involving Coinbase, Binance, Kraken and Gemini, and investigations involving Uniswap Labs, OpenSea, Crypto.com, Robinhood and Ondo Finance; in SEC v. Ripple Labs, it dismissed its appeal and cross-appeal, leaving the district court’s final judgment intact.

Against this shifting backdrop, the article says targets of pending investigations or litigation can challenge whether an asset was ever a security, argue that an investment contract ended as a project matured, or point to the SEC’s repudiation of the prior administration’s regulation-by-enforcement approach.

For companies facing scrutiny, the article recommends meeting with enforcement staff, grounding Wells submissions in the new taxonomy and maturity analysis, reassessing litigation strategies, documenting how products fit the categories and engaging proactively with the SEC when the rules remain uncertain.