• The SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets in August 2026, and the comment period closed on 20 October 2026; it is a proposal, not a final rule.
• The proposal has two Securities Act registration exemptions, one up to $5 million over four years and one up to $75 million per 12-month period, plus a conditional safe harbor from the term 'investment contract'.
• Hyperliquid Policy Center says the safe harbor requires a certification many projects cannot make, and asks the SEC to state that no-consideration airdrops are not securities.
• AIMA seeks disclosure that separates economic exposure from ownership, redemption and contractual rights; SIFMA wants investor protection and issuer opt-in revised.
• Issuers and compliance teams should map which projects could make the safe-harbor certification before the final text arrives.

The comment period on the SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets closed on 20 October 2026, and the early signal from industry and Wall Street is that the framework is welcome but not yet workable. According to The Block, more than 100 submissions had been filed, with Hyperliquid Policy Center, AIMA and SIFMA each asking for specific revisions. Nothing is final: the SEC can still revise, finalize or abandon parts of the text.

What the proposal would do

The SEC's release describes two exemptions from Securities Act registration and a conditional safe harbor from the term 'investment contract'. Per the SEC's rule filing, the first exemption would permit offerings of up to $5 million over a four-year period, and the second up to $75 million in each 12-month period. The filing was published in the Federal Register on 21 August 2026, which started a 60-day comment clock, and it follows a March 2026 Commission interpretation of how securities law applies to certain crypto assets.

The safe-harbor certification is the sticking point

Hyperliquid Policy Center supports adoption but says the safe harbor is too narrow, as reported by The Block. Its comment states that the safe harbor requires a certification many projects cannot make. It also asks the SEC to codify that airdrops given for nothing in exchange involve no investment of money and are therefore not securities. For issuers, the practical question is whether a given project can truthfully sign the certification, which is a compliance matter before it is a product one.

Wall Street wants disclosure and opt-in tightened

AIMA and SIFMA push from the investor-protection side, according to The Block. AIMA asks for disclosure of investors' legal rights and risks, a clear split between utility or economic exposure and ownership, redemption, cash-flow and contractual rights, and tailored event reporting. SIFMA says the SEC must address investor protection immediately and revise how issuers opt in, stressing that the five-year term of the related innovation exemption makes early resolution important.

What to watch next

The next signal is whether the SEC reopens comment, revises the safe-harbor certification, or moves toward a final rule. The innovation exemption for tokenized securities venues and certain liquidity providers took effect in September, so the two regimes will interact. Teams planning offerings should inventory which tokens could satisfy the certification and what rights-and-risks disclosure they could already produce, since both commenter camps point at those two areas.