SEC Floats New Exemptions to Ease Crypto Fundraising Requirements

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday released a proposal that would let certain crypto projects raise capital without going through full securities registration. Under the draft "crypto asset regulation," the SEC outlines two potential exemptions: one for projects that raise up to $5 million over a four-year period, and another for issuers raising up to $75 million in any 12-month period, provided they file financial statements and make ongoing disclosures. Both pathways would still require investor-facing disclosures and would remain subject to federal antifraud and antimanipulation provisions. The proposal also introduces a conditional safe harbor that could allow issuers to "decouple" crypto assets from the investment contracts under which they were originally issued, so long as the SEC's requirements are met. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said the exemptions would not fit every type of crypto project, adding that the agency expects to refine the framework as market conditions evolve. The SEC recently scrapped a related meeting due to "unforeseen scheduling conflicts," then resumed work on the proposal several days later. (Decrypt)