This week in digital assets federal policy, the SEC Crypto Task Force held its first roundtable to discuss the classification of crypto assets under federal securities laws, aiming to clarify regulatory frameworks for digital assets. President Trump addressed the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit, announcing an end to the “regulatory war on crypto.” The Treasury Department removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash. Additionally, the SEC issued a statement that protocol mining activities do not involve the sale of securities; NFTs could receive future clarification.  

It was a quieter week in Congress, but the sprint to the April recess includes a markup on stablecoin legislation in the House and hearings on digital assets regulatory frameworks.

Read more below

Congress

Hearings

• Last week
  • The House and Senate were in recess.
• This week
  • On March 25, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a Hearing Entitled: Beyond Silicon Valley: Expanding Access to Capital Across America
  • On March 25, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) at 50: Examining the Past and Future of Commodity Markets.
  • On March 25, the House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Keeping the Lights On: Examining the State of Regional Grid Reliability.
  • On March 26, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a Hearing Entitled: A New Era for the CFPB: Balancing Power and Reprioritizing Consumer Protections
  • On March 27, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Paul Atkins to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Jonathan Gould to be comptroller of the currency at the Treasury Department; and Luke Pettit to be assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions.
• Upcoming
  • On April 1, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on Following the Money: Tools and Techniques to Combat Fraud
  • On April 2, the House Financial Services Committee is reportedly expected to hold a markup on the STABLE Act (PoliticoPro)
  • On April 9, the Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee will hold a hearing on American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: Aligning the U.S. Securities Laws for the Digital Age
  • On April 29, the House Financial Services Financial Institutions Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Regulatory Overreach: The Price Tag on American Prosperity

Correspondence

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting information about a new SEC Division of Corporate Finance Staff Statement on memecoins and its impact on oversight of President Trump’s recently launched meme coins. (Letter)(Press release)

Trump Administration

Treasury Department

• Treasury announced it was removing economic sanctions against Tornado Cash, delisting it from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). (Press release)

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a bulletin announcing it is removing references to reputation risk from guidance and instructed examiners to no longer examine for reputation risk. (Press release)

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent convened the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in an executive session in which he shared his priorities, including to prioritize enhancements to the member agencies’ supervisory and regulatory frameworks and to position banks and other regulated entities to foster innovation. Bessent also encouraged member agencies to re-focus their supervision on material financial risks and supported banking agency work to remove reputational risk as a basis for supervisory criticism. (Readout)

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• The SEC Crypto Task Force hosted its first in a series of roundtables on How We Got Here and How We Get Out – Defining Security Status. The public can watch the recording of the roundtable livestream and read comment submissions (Comments)(CoinDesk video)

• The SEC Division of Corporation Finance issued a statement clarifying protocol mining activities do not involve the offer and sale of securities. (Statement)

Small Business Administration (SBA)

• The SBA will host the annual National Small Business Week with events on topics such as manufacturing, digital marketing, cybersecurity and cryptocurrency. (Press release)

Noteworthy Quotes and Events

ADMINISTRATION

White House

• President Trump delivered remarks at the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit in New York in which he said, “We’re ending the last administration’s regulatory war on Crypto and Bitcoin. That includes stopping the lawless Operation Choke Point 2.0… it was a form of lawfare through government weaponization… but as of January 20, 2025, all of that is over.” (Remarks)

• White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks tweeted, “Today President Trump spoke at the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit — becoming the first sitting president in history to address a crypto conference.”

• Sacks also tweeted, “Why does the media always want to portray crypto in the worst light? I did not ‘dump’ my cryptocurrency; I divested it. Obviously I would have preferred not to, but government ethics rules required it. It’s an honor to serve President Trump and the American people.”

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• Commissioner Hester Peirce suggested NFTs could be the subject of a future statement clarifying the non-security status of certain kinds of non-fungible tokens, saying, “We could do it on NFTs as well. If we could provide some kind of framework or some kind of markers for [NFT issuers] to look to, I think it could be pretty helpful.” She added, “You could have an NFT that’s a tokenized security, and it could be structured as an NFT. Obviously that’s not going to be carved out.” (Decrypt)

• In his opening statement at the SEC Crypto Task Force roundtable, Acting Chair Mark Uyeda said, “Differences in opinions among various courts is not unusual. After all, a judicial opinion is limited to the particular facts and circumstances of that case. When judicial opinions have created uncertainty for market participants in the past, the Commission and its staff have stepped in to provide guidance. For example, the Commission clarified the meaning of an investment adviser’s fiduciary duty under section 206 of the Advisers Act in response to industry demand. The Commission also opined on the application of Howey to offers and sales of whisky warehouse receipts and condominiums, among other things. This approach of using notice-and-comment rulemaking or explaining the Commission’s thought process through releases – rather than through enforcement actions – should have been considered for classifying crypto assets under the federal securities laws. Today’s roundtable is an important first step in addressing that concern.” (Remarks)

• In her opening statement at the SEC Crypto Task Force roundtable, Commissioner Hester Peirce laid out some of the questions the roundtable would cover, including, “What makes something a security? Is that status permanent, or might an asset start as a security and convert to a non-security, or vice versa? How does decentralization affect the analysis? Can we translate the characteristics of a security into a simple taxonomy that will cover the many different types of crypto assets that exist today and will exist in the future?” (Remarks)

• In her opening statement at the SEC Crypto Task Force roundtable, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw said, “I anticipate discussion today around two big questions: one, are crypto assets securities subject to SEC jurisdiction under existing law; and two, should they be? Enhancing regulatory clarity is a laudable goal. So is reasoned policy debate. As long as our goal is to promote compliance with, and not avoidance of, a legal framework that is faithful to the SEC’s mission to protect investors and the markets.” (Remarks)

• In response to the SEC Crypto Mining Statement, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw issued a dissenting statement entitled The Flame in Plato’s Cave, concluding, “…the statement leaves us exactly where we started: with a facts and circumstances application of Howey. For the sake of investors, other market participants, and the markets themselves, I hope that readers do not mistake it for something more than it is.” (Statement)

CONGRESS

• Financial Services GOP tweeted, “NEW: Chairman RepFrenchHill announces the April hearing schedule. Key highlights: American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: Aligning the U.S. Securities Laws for the Digital Age, Decades of Dysfunction: Restoring Accountability at HUD, Exposing the Proxy Advisory Cartel: How ISS & Glass Lewis Influence Markets”

• Financial Services GOP also tweeted, “President Trump has made it clear from day one that America will be a leader in digital assets, including stablecoins. The Committee is working quickly to deliver on our mutual goals.”

• Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC) tweeted, “President Trump is shutting down Biden’s Operation Choke Point 2.0 and putting an end to the government’s war on crypto! No more debanking, no more weaponized regulation. This is a huge win for innovation and the future of digital assets. Thank you, President Trump!”

• Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) tweeted, “With Gary Gensler in the wastebin of Washington and POTUS in the White House, the future of crypto in America has never been more promising.”

• Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) tweeted, “I had a productive week back home in IA04 on my 36CountyTour meeting with our neighbors & job creators. I also celebrated NationalAgDay, joined a bill to prevent the creation of a central bank digital currency, and helped lead legislation to train & retain EMTs in rural Iowa.”

• Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) tweeted, “The Trump Administration just lifted sanctions against a company at the heart of North Korea’s ability to hack crypto funds to finance their nuclear weapons arsenal. Secretary Bessent’s words are meaningless. His actions make it easier for North Korea to build nukes. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Trump Administration is, once again, making life easier for dictators and foreign adversaries.”

What I’m Reading This Week

• Preparing for the Impact of AI on Cryptocurrency, Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, Diplomatic Courier.

About Zero One Strategies

Zero One Strategies is a boutique government relations practice dedicated to navigating the complex landscape of U.S. federal policy in emerging technologies. As advancements in technology continue to outpace regulatory frameworks, Zero One Strategies aims to provide strategic guidance and bipartisan advocacy for innovators and businesses operating at the forefront of technological development.

The practice focuses on key areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, decentralized technologies, cybersecurity, data, and digital infrastructure, as well as the multiple policy issues impacting these sectors, including tax and financial services.

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