NEW STAGE OF REGULATORY GAME: CEEX INTERPRETS THE IMPACT OF THE SEC INNOVATION EXEMPTION ON THE GLOBAL ENCRYPTION INDUSTRY

 

Over the past few years, the attitude of United States regulators towards encrypted assets has been similar to that of roller coasters。

FORMER SEC CHAIRMAN GARY GENSLER, KNOWN AS "REGULATION IS ENFORCEMENT", RELIED ON THE 1946 JURISPRUDENCEHoweyThe test treats any token for fund-raising purposes as a security and sues projects such as Ripple. For example, in 2023, the Court ruled that XRP was a security in an institutional sale but was not considered a security in the retail market. Even Coinbase, already listed through SEC S-1, has been prosecuted for “operating an unregistered stock exchange”. Such contradictions have caused the market to grow and become “SEC effect”: Whenever a currency is called securities, its prices tend to collapse, capital and developers flee to regulatoryly friendly Europe and Asia。

AFTER THE CHANGE OF REGIME IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2025, THERE WAS A MAJOR TURN IN POLICY, WITH THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF SEC, PAUL ATKINS, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CNBC, STATING THAT MOST ENCRYPTED ASSETS SHOULD NOT BE CLASSIFIED AS SECURITIES AND PROPOSING THREE MAJOR REFORMS:Currency classificationI don't knowEncryption itemsandInnovative exemptionsI don't know. He said that most encrypted assets were similar to commodities, collections or tool-type tokens, and that only a fraction of the investment contracts tested by Howey were real securities. As the new government withdraws a number of lawsuits and instructs the SEC to work with the CFTC to develop rules, the US wants to return to the Global Center for Encrypted Innovation。

IN TERMS OF INNOVATIVE EXEMPTIONS, ATKINS COMMITTED TO INTRODUCING THE “INNOVATIVE EXEMPTION” SANDBOX IN JANUARY 2026, THE IDEA BEING THAT THE PROJECT WOULD BE ALLOWED TO TEST THE PRODUCT QUICKLY WITHIN A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME, WITHOUT THE NEED FOR CUMBERSOME REGISTRATION, BUT WITH OPEN REPORTING, COMPLIANCE WITH THE KYC/AML RULES AND INVESTOR PROTECTION MEASURES. PUBLIC OPINION IS OF THE VIEW THAT SUCH A POLICY WOULD GIVE START-UP BLOCK CHAINS BREATHING SPACE AND REDUCE COMPLIANCE COSTS. HOWEVER, THE ISSUER WAS ALLOWED TO SCREEN THE USER'S IDENTITY, WHICH WAS PARTIALLY DECENTRALISED AND CRITICIZED BY THE COMMUNITY AS “CONTRARY TO THE IDEA OF OPENNESS”, AND SOME DAOS WERE CONCERNED THAT THE MOBILITY POOL WAS DIVIDED INTO BOTH LICENSED AND NON-LICENSED SYSTEMS。

 

 

 

The change in the direction of the wind cannot be avoided。

November 2022, one of the largest encryption exchanges in the worldFTXIn a few days, the empire, with a value of 32 billion dollars, filed for bankruptcy. The founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was subsequently arrested and faced numerous criminal charges. The media described the incident as a “encrypted Lehman moment” and millions of users' assets were wiped out. Since then, European and American regulators have realized that unsupervised exchanges can easily become Ponzi concubines, reporting that each serious crisis promotes new risk management standards and that society is beginning to demand more stringent regulatory frameworks。

FTX LESSONS HAVE PROMPTED THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCHCripto Spring, REQUIRES THE SEC AND CFTC TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC GUIDANCE APPLICABLE TO ENCRYPTED ASSETS. MEANWHILE, CONGRESS PASSEDGENIUS ActFOR THE FIRST TIME, THE STABLE CURRENCY OF COMPLIANCE WAS RECOGNIZED AS A LEGAL PAYMENT TOOL. THE UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENT LIFTED SAB 121, WHICH PROHIBITED BANKS FROM HOSTING ENCRYPTED ASSETS, ENABLING BANKS SUCH AS GOLDMAN SACHS AND CITIGROUPS TO HOLD THEIR CUSTOMERS' BITCOIN AND ETHERA. THESE INITIATIVES MARK A MOVE AWAY FROM OFFICIAL PRESSURE AND TOWARDS REDESIGNING RISK-CONTROL SYSTEMS AFTER LEARNING LESSONS。

 

 

A tightening of regulation does not mean that the industry is stagnating, but rather that some companies are proactively embracing compliance and transforming it into a competitive advantage. In Coinbase, for example, after being prosecuted by SEC, Coinbase developed efficient KYC/AML techniques and sold them as “compliance services” to other agencies. Its report indicates that the revenue from Coinbase ' s compliance operations increased by more than 215 per cent through the provision of technical support to external enterprises. This case demonstrates that, even in a stringent regulatory environment, businesses can seek commercial value through innovative solutions。

The venture capital, Andreasen Horowitz (a16z), also opted for “pre-emptive strike”, hiring former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert as Chief Legal Officer, to participate actively in policy development and lobby regulators to provide a more liberal regulatory environment for technologies such as zero proof of knowledge. This “revolving door” strategy not only secures voice for its own investment projects, but also reflects a competition of interests between regulation and industry。

Another interesting example comes from Tesla, where, as US labor laws prohibit companies from paying their salaries directly in encrypted currency, the Musker team, through the old California law, allowed the “emergency advance” loophole to allow employees to choose part of their salary to stabilize the currencyUSDCThe form is acquired and then settled daily by an encrypted exchange. This clever exercise suggests that innovative pay schemes can also be tried within the regulatory framework and respond to staff interest in digital assets。

 

 

 

The shift in United States policy is not an isolated event。

In Europe, the Encrypted Assets Market Ordinance (MiCA) came into force in 2024, providing uniform rules for the entire EU. The European Union Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) noted that enterprises providing encryption services until 30 December 2024 could continue to operate during the transition period, but member States could reduce the transition period on their own to protect investors. MiCA requires digital asset service providers to disclose transaction records, order books and transparency data in a standard format and to submit white paper information to ensure market order. Given the different times that countries are implementing transition periods, scholars are concerned that regulatory arbitrage leads to “regulatory puzzles”. Countries such as Germany have reduced the transition period in order to seize markets and attract more companies to apply for local licences. This differential implementation has prompted the EU to consider whether a large platform for the integrated regulation of ESMA would affect competitiveness by fragmentation。

 

FOR ITS PART, THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS INTRODUCED THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT (FSMA) TO ESTABLISH MULTIPLE LEVELS OF REGULATION. ITS REGULATORY SANDBOX ALLOWS START-UPS TO TEST INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS IN CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS, FROM WHICH REGULATORS OBTAIN DATA AND ADJUST POLICIES. IN ASIA, SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG HAVE, SINCE 2020, OPENED UP THEIR "SUPERVISED SANDBOX" SCHEMES TO ISSUE VIRTUAL ASSET TRADING PLATFORM PLATES TO ATTRACT EXCHANGES. APPROVED BY THE SINGAPORE FINANCE AUTHORITYInvestaXandFranklin TempletonThe roll-out of a block-chain-based money market fund allows for the purchase of short-term bonds and commercial notes that are monetized. The share of this fund is recorded on the block chain, providing real-time transparency and day-to-day liquidity. The example shows that Asian regulators prefer “first-instance” to assess risks and benefits with practical experience。

 

In developing markets, the Government of Pakistan has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Binance to pilot the monetization of $2 billion worth of sovereign debt and bulk commodities. The country was on the brink of Western sanctions, improving liquidity through monetization, attracting overseas capital and reflecting emerging economies ' strategies to break traditional constraints through financial innovation. When the United States and the European Union were still discussing regulatory frameworks, emerging markets had rapidly embraced block-chain financing instruments, a “curve-over” that deserved attention。

 

 

 

TURNING BACK, THE US SEC HAS INTRODUCED AN “INNOVATION EXEMPTION” MORE LIKE A GLOBAL PARADIGM SHIFT FROM HARD ENFORCEMENT TO CLASSIFICATION REGULATION, TEMPORARY EXEMPTIONS AND SANDBOX TRIALS. POLICYMAKERS ARE BEGINNING TO REALIZE THAT A SIMPLE CLOSURE CAN ONLY ACCELERATE THE BRAIN DRAIN AND THE EXPANSION OF GREY AREAS; A MORE FEASIBLE APPROACH WOULD BE TO DRAW A LANDING BOUNDARY BETWEEN INVESTOR PROTECTION AND THE PACE OF INNOVATION。

The game is not over. Traditional financial institutions continue to enter the market, giving the block chain a wider application landscape, and creating a new balance of power: the Chicago Commodity Exchange, New York House, and other traditional giants in successive distributions; the World Federation of Exchanges, concerned that deregulation could undermine market integrity, advocated the application of the same set of rules to traditional exchanges and DeFi platforms; and the Uniswap founders, who argued that excessive regulation would stifle open-source innovation, when institutions such as Citadel Securities called for greater discipline on decentrization agreements. Differences themselves are the foothold of the complexity of the new paradigm。

 

For the general reader, an understanding of the “innovation exemption” does not have to go into a obscure provision. It can be imagined as a government-generated test field, allowing seed projects to test new varieties within a limited period and then apply for formal access when they mature. The regulator is willing to give flexible space and also to fence up — the project must continuously disclose operational progress and risks. As the rules land, the United States may welcome a return to the project, or may contribute to the accelerated roll-out of benchmarking mechanisms in Eurasia, leading to a more generic regulatory template that moves encrypted ecology towards a more normative and inclusive phase。

For the trading platform, the opportunities presented by regulatory competitions often fall on the two lines of “compliance + experience friction”. The CEEX is the main one-stop all-currency amalgamation transaction for the construction of growth ships around “brokers”, the platform currency CMC is located as the broker's exclusive interest vehicle and mining is open to brokers; and the African market has launched a co-construction programme open to local media, education, payments, etc. partners, while advancing the application for a VASP license in Dubai VARA, pre-calculating the Middle East compliance route. The new version of App also prefaces the registered broker's application entry and inserts a “brokering centre” on the front page with the upper right corner, where the integration/charge and grade data can be visualized to make upgrading and operation easier。