By Hannah Lang
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose new crypto-related rules.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."
The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.
The delay
comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, if passed, would create new federal rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.
Under Trump's SEC Chair Paul Atkins, the agency has reversed its crypto policy, laying out sweeping plans to overhaul capital markets regulations to accommodate tokens and blockchain-based trading. Its previous Democratic leader had sued multiple crypto companies, alleging their tokens were effectively securities and that they should have complied with SEC registration and disclosure rules.
Crypto companies say most tokens more closely resemble commodities than securities, a position Atkins has backed.
In March, he suggested the SEC would propose rules creating a safe harbor that would make it easier for companies to sell tokens and raise money. He also said the agency was considering a "fit-for-purpose startup exemption," which would allow crypto entrepreneurs to raise a certain amount of money or operate for a finite period while exempt from SEC rules.
Trump, who courted crypto cash on the campaign trail and whose family has profited from its own token, has prioritized crypto reform during his second administration.
Under Trump, the SEC moved swiftly last year to rescind stringent crypto accounting guidance and dismiss lawsuits against Coinbase, Binance and others that had alleged those companies were flouting the agency's rules.
The SEC is also working on an "innovation exemption" that Atkins has said would allow companies to experiment with new digital asset business models, such as blockchain-based stocks, without having to comply with all SEC disclosure and investor safeguards.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel and Shri Navaratnam)
