The American regulator is once again adjusting the rules of the game in the crypto market. This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) presented the draft Regulation Crypto Assets — a regulatory act that essentially offers a legal mechanism for selling tokens to investors and, more importantly, formalizes an asset's exit from the scope of securities law. This step directly affects one of the most controversial issues of recent years — the legal status of XRP.
What the SEC offers token issuers
According to my analysis, the draft provides two paths for exemption from registration under U.S. law. The first is a one-time option allowing the raising of up to $5 million in total over four years. The second, more extensive option permits raising up to $75 million within any 12-month period. In both cases, issuers are required to provide investors with simple and clear explanations of the project's essence.
For larger offerings using the second quota, additional requirements are added for publishing financial statements and submitting current reports. Notably, federal regulation will take precedence over regional rules, overriding individual state requirements for such primary offerings and certain secondary trades.
This structure reminds me of the ICO era, when projects raised billions through public sales until regulators shut down that market. However, now the maximum amounts and transparency requirements are fixed from the start, making the process more predictable.
The question that made XRP famous has received a written answer
The XRP story is the cornerstone of the entire discussion. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, claiming that token sales violated registration requirements. In 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP itself is not a security, but certain institutional transactions violated the law. The process concluded in August 2025.
This decision created a paradox: the token could only obtain an exemption through the courts, but until now there was no clear algorithm for exiting without involving the legal system. The new safe harbor offers the missing mechanism. When a team completes or officially ceases the stated managerial work for buyers, the asset no longer falls under the definition of an investment contract.
"In accordance with the commission's prior guidance, the current proposal also provides a safe harbor for an issuer that has completed or permanently ceased all key managerial actions it stated or promised as part of the investment contract," said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins in a release.
The market has so far reacted cautiously. XRP is hovering around $1, with a market capitalization of $62.7 billion, corresponding to sixth place in the overall ranking. The price is still far from the July 2025 record of $3.65.
Currently, the focus is on the comment collection phase and consideration in Congress, where the CLARITY Act bill, which defines the market structure for digital assets, awaits a vote in the Senate. The final terms of the "safe harbor" will be key for issuers that have released tokens outside the U.S.: they will determine whether sales return to the American market.
My view: This proposal is a landmark step toward institutionalizing the crypto market, but the devil is in the details. If the SEC truly establishes clear criteria for "decentralization," we could see a wave of new offerings, but also intensified competition among existing projects. XRP, as a pioneer in this matter, could become a benchmark for the entire industry.