US SEC holds crypto task force roundtable as Trump plans regulatory revamp

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto task force held its first public meeting with experts on Friday, focusing on how securities laws might apply to digital assets as the Trump administration looks to overhaul cryptocurrency regulations.

Among the participants of the roundtable were John Reed Stark, former chief of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement, Miles Jennings, the general counsel for Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, a16z, and former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes. Republican SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce is leading the task force, which is charged with developing rules and guidance for crypto.

"Spring signifies new beginnings and we have a new beginning here, a restart of the commission's approach to crypto regulation," said Peirce.

The crypto industry has long clashed with regulators over how federal securities laws translate to digital assets, with many arguing that crypto tokens are more akin to commodities. Tokens classified as securities would require firms to register with the SEC and provide certain disclosures to investors.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises to be a "crypto president," has pledged to reverse an industry crackdown under former President Joe Biden's SEC, which sued multiple crypto companies, including Coinbase and Kraken, alleging they had flouted its rules. The SEC's new leadership has agreed to withdraw or pause many of those cases.

The task force on Friday debated whether crypto tokens require a new, separate regulatory framework, different from how the SEC oversees securities such as equities.

Jennings urged the SEC to take a "technology-neutral" approach, "looking at what differentiates a system like ethereum from ownership of equity in Apple."

Some, including Democratic SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, expressed concern that the regulator would loosen rules for cryptocurrencies by allowing them to operate under a distinct regime.

"Modifying the law to facilitate the success of a chosen product category is fraught with risk," said Crenshaw. "Risk not only of weakening regulatory protections for that category, but of creating the negative domino effect on other areas of the market protected by the same laws."

The task force's first roundtable comes as Trump has sought to broadly overhaul policies toward cryptocurrency. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies and held a summit for industry leaders at the White House.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)