SEC Regulatory Turn: A Milestone from Confrontation to Dialogue
On April 11, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a high-profile roundtable meeting at its Washington headquarters entitled “Between the Blocks and the Obstacles: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading.” This meeting marks a significant shift in the SEC’s regulatory strategy—from its previous confrontational “enforcement-first” approach to a framework built on industry dialogue and collaboration. This change is driven by policy adjustments since the Trump administration took office, including the crypto-friendly stance of the new SEC leadership and the termination of previous investigations into companies such as Coinbase and Uniswap.
Since early 2025, the SEC has established a crypto special task force led by “Crypto Mom” Hester Peirce and has planned a series of four meetings from April to June covering core topics such as trading, custody, asset tokenization, and DeFi. These initiatives are intended to resolve long-standing regulatory ambiguities in the industry—for example, disputes over the definition of “securities” and the compliance pathways for decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Roundtable Core Topics and Industry Involvement
The roundtable will focus on three key themes:
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Tailored Regulatory Frameworks:
Discussing how to design layered rules for crypto trading—such as exempting securities law obligations based on the degree of decentralization of assets or establishing a “regulatory sandbox” for DEXs. -
Compliance Technology Tools:
Examining the applicability of anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) measures in DeFi contexts—for instance, Uniswap Labs’ proposed on-chain KYC verification solution. -
International Cooperation and Standards Coordination:
The SEC plans to work with regulators in regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia to coordinate cross-border supervision and explore the use of blockchain in cross-border payments, to avoid conflicts with regulations such as the EU’s MiCA.
Participants will include senior executives from institutions like Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as legal scholars and representatives from traditional finance. For example, Uniswap’s Chief Legal Officer Katherine Minarik is expected to share her experience in responding to SEC investigations, and Coinbase’s Gregory Tusar will advocate for establishing “qualified contract market” standards to enhance exchange transparency.
Potential Impacts: Opportunities and Challenges
Acceleration of Industry Compliance:
If the SEC issues clear regulatory rules, traditional financial institutions will be more willing to enter the market. For example, asset management companies like Franklin Templeton have already filed ETF applications for crypto assets on platforms such as Solana and Avalanche, and market expectations suggest that the probability of a SOL ETF approval in 2025 may exceed 70%. Moreover, the issuance of compliant tokens surged threefold after the Coinbase lawsuit was dropped, demonstrating a positive market reaction to regulatory certainty.
For investors, regulatory clarity may help reduce market volatility. For instance, the SEC’s reclassification of NFT projects—holding only Ponzi schemes accountable—has created space for digital asset innovation. Users can refer to JuCoin’s compliance trading guide to learn how to evaluate token regulatory status.
Pressure on Smaller Projects:
Strict audit and asset segregation requirements could drive up compliance costs, potentially forcing small exchanges or DeFi protocols to exit the market. For example, as the SEC requires custody institutions to implement the “Travel Rule,” some DEX front-ends have begun geo-blocking users in high-risk regions.
New Legal and Technological Disputes:
Adjustments to the SEC’s “securities” definition may spark new controversies. For example, if meme coins are classified as securities due to community governance factors, it could disrupt the existing market structure. Moreover, the SEC reserves the right to hold “technology suppliers who assist illegal activities” accountable, potentially affecting teams developing front-end interfaces for DeFi protocols.
Industry Insights: How to Cope with Regulatory Changes
Embrace Compliance Tools
Project teams can learn from Uniswap’s “non-custodial architecture” experience and use open-source code and decentralized governance to reduce legal risks.
Monitor Regional Policy Differences
The EU’s MiCA mandates DeFi protocols implement KYC measures, while the U.S. might allow certain exemptions; companies need to develop flexible, multi-region compliance strategies.
Investor Risk Management
It is recommended to diversify investments to mitigate the impact of policy uncertainty. Tools such as JuCoin’s asset portfolio can help investors balance the mix between compliant tokens and higher-risk assets.
Future Outlook
The SEC plans to release its “National Cryptocurrency Strategic Whitepaper” in Q2 2025, which will detail policies on taxation, cross-border flows, and other specifics. If this roundtable fosters regulatory consensus, the United States may become the first country to establish a DeFi-adapted regulatory framework, attracting global crypto liquidity and reshaping industry standards. For industry practitioners and investors, understanding these regulatory evolutions and planning ahead will be key to seizing the next growth cycle.
Neason Oliver
