SEC Launches ‘Project Crypto’ to Execute White House Digital-Asset Blueprint

Washington released its most detailed blueprint yet for digital-asset oversight as the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets issued a 160-page report dated 30 July 2025. The document, prepared under the direction of White House crypto and AI adviser David Sacks, proposes a coordinated federal strategy meant to clarify how cryptocurrencies can be issued, traded and held within the banking system. The report urges the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use existing authority to provide immediate clarity. Recommended measures include safe-harbor periods for token distributions, tailored exemptions for airdrops and other novel fundraising methods, and an innovation exemption to foster new business models. It also calls on the CFTC to assert oversight of spot markets for non-security tokens and on banking regulators to adopt standards, created under the recently enacted Genius Act, for dollar-backed stablecoins. Lawmakers are advised to bar the Federal Reserve from pursuing a U.S. central-bank digital currency, arguing private-sector solutions are preferable. Responding to the report, SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced the launch of “Project Crypto,” saying he is mobilizing all agency divisions “to make America the crypto capital of the world.” Atkins told Fox Business most digital assets will not be treated as securities and pledged new rules that let retail investors participate in early-stage crypto and private-equity offerings. The initiative will also revisit custody requirements and settlement practices for blockchain-based assets. The CFTC signaled support for the White House framework and said it would accelerate its push to police crypto spot markets. Taken together, the recommendations and the SEC’s follow-on actions mark the clearest indication to date that the Trump administration intends to integrate digital assets into the broader financial system while easing entry for both institutional and retail participants.