Capital Markets & Securities Law Watch

On December 17, 2025, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced a partnership with Digital Asset Holdings (Digital Asset), a developer of distributed ledger technology, to tokenize a subset of U.S. Treasury securities custodied at its subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC), using Digital Asset’s Canton Network. This announcement follows DTC’s receipt of a No-Action Letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 11, 2025, providing no-action relief allowing DTC to offer a pilot tokenization service for certain highly liquid assets.

In an address delivered on November 12, 2025 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) Chairman Paul S. Atkins outlined the next phase of the SEC’s “Project Crypto,” advocating for clarity and fairness in the regulation of digital assets.

On May 12, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted its fourth roundtable with the Commission’s Crypto Task Force, titled “Moving Assets On-chain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet.” The SEC’s Commissioners largely expressed optimism about integrating blockchain technology into securities markets, anticipating flexibility and interoperability as well as the Commission’s ability to adapt. However, dissenting opinion expressed skepticism, warning of unresolved risks and urging regulatory restraint, highlighting a divide within the Commission on how favorably it will treat asset tokenization. For more information and resources, visit our Public Company Gateway page, a one-stop portal for the latest legal and regulatory developments as well as key checklists, guides, and other pragmatic desktop tools.

On April 4, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a staff statement that certain USD-pegged stablecoins do not qualify as securities under federal law. The announcement defines a narrow category of “Covered Stablecoins” exempt from registration requirements.

On October 14, 2022, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler recommended that Congress broaden the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with regard to stablecoins. Gensler’s statements are consistent with recent pushes for increased regulation of cryptocurrency generally.

On May 3, 2022, to address issues relating to unregulated digital assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the hiring of new investigative agents, including investigative staff attorneys, trial lawyers, and fraud analysts, to crack down on bad actors in the crypto space.

Industry professionals are keeping tabs on the regulation of crypto assets, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) turns its attention to the burgeoning asset class. A pair of prepared remarks delivered by SEC Chair Gary Gensler over the past few months underscore the SEC’s commitment to enforcement and increased regulatory oversight of crypto assets.

On February 6, 2020, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce delivered a speech where she announced her plans to address the regulatory gaps that prohibit properly functioning token networks. Peirce noted that crypto entrepreneurs have tried building decentralized token networks where tokens can trade hands without ever going through a central authority.