SEC to recommend 'flexible' pathway for token registration: Gensler

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler wants SEC staff to work with token projects on a "flexible" pathway to registering as securities. 

"I have asked staff, in working to register crypto security intermediaries, to recommend a pathway to allow both the crypto security and crypto non-security tokens to trade versus or alongside one another," Gensler says in written testimony submitted to the Senate Banking Committee, where he will appear as part of a regular oversight hearing tomorrow. "Given the nature of crypto investments, I recognize that it may be appropriate to be flexible in applying existing disclosure requirements."

Gensler reiterated the SEC's longstanding position that "most crypto tokens are securities," and that many intermediaries need to register with the SEC, "whether they call themselves centralized or decentralized," Gensler continued, specifically referencing 'decentralized finance.'  

Gensler's latest remarks soften his tone on the topic of crypto from last week, when he dismissed crypto industry complaints about lacking clear guidance. “Through the past 5 years, the SEC has spoken with a pretty clear voice,” Gensler told a legal conference in Washington.