On August 18, 2026 the SEC proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets” to create a legal route for token sales to US investors with two Securities Act exemptions — a one-time raise up to $5 million across four years and a recurring track up to $75 million per 12 months — requiring plain disclosures, and for the larger track audited financial statements and ongoing reports; public comments will be open for 60 days after Federal Register publication and federal rules would preempt state registration. The package also codifies a safe harbor allowing tokens to exit securities treatment once promised managerial efforts are completed or permanently ceased, answering the XRP exit question after Ripple’s case closed in August 2025, and markets showed little immediate reaction with XRP trading near $1 and a $62.7 billion market cap, highlighting implications for token launch, fundraising, adoption and regulatory clarity in crypto.

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In Brief

The SEC proposed rules letting crypto projects sell tokens directly to US investors.
A safe harbor would let tokens exit securities treatment once promised work ends.
The exit question defined the XRP lawsuit that ended in August 2025.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on Tuesday, opening a legal route for token sales to US investors and a formal exit from securities treatment.

The exit question sat at the center of the SEC’s long court fight with Ripple over XRP. Tuesday’s proposal would replace years of litigation with written conditions.

What the New SEC Crypto Rules Offer Token Issuers

The proposal creates two exemptions from Securities Act registration:

A one-time option covers raises of up to $5 million across four years.
A second track allows up to $75 million every 12 months.

Both routes require plain narrative disclosures for investors.

Projects using the larger exemption must also publish financial statements and file ongoing reports. Federal rules would override state registration requirements for these offerings and certain secondary trades.

The structure loosely recalls the initial coin offering (ICO) era, when projects raised billions from the public before enforcement closed that channel. This time, dollar caps and disclosure duties frame the activity from day one.

The package builds on the joint token taxonomy the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued on March 17.

That interpretation explained how a non-security crypto asset can enter and leave an investment contract, the legal wrapper that pulls a token sale under securities law. Public comments stay open for 60 days after Federal Register publication.

🚨 TODAY: The SEC proposed new rules, “Regulation Crypto Assets,” that would create a clear and fit-for-purpose framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. pic.twitter.com/SAA2sErMXF
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) August 18, 2026

The Question XRP Made Famous Gets a Written Answer

The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, arguing its XRP sales amounted to unregistered securities offerings. Judge Analisa Torres ruled in 2023 that XRP itself was not a security, though certain institutional sales crossed the line. The case closed in August 2025.

That outcome left a puzzle every project since has faced. A token could escape securities status in court, yet no rule told issuers how to get there without a judge.

The proposed safe harbor supplies the missing mechanism.

Once a team completes or permanently ends the managerial work it promised buyers, the asset would no longer sit under an investment contract.

“In line with the Commission’s earlier interpretative guidance, this proposal would also allow for a safe harbor once an issuer has completed or permanently ceased all essential managerial efforts that it represented or promised it would take under an investment contract,” SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said in the release.

Markets showed little immediate reaction. XRP trades near $1, little changed over the past day, with a $62.7 billion market cap that ranks sixth overall. The token still sits well below its July 2025 record of $3.65.

XRP Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto

Attention now turns to the comment window and to Congress, where the CLARITY Act, a bill setting market structure rules for digital assets, still awaits a Senate vote. The safe harbor’s final conditions will determine whether issuers that built offshore actually bring token sales back to the US.

Read the article at BeInCrypto