The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reopened the comment period and offered further details on proposed changes to the Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 definition of "exchange," a news release said.
The announcement reaffirmed the applicability of current regulations to platforms that trade crypto asset securities, including so-called "DeFi" systems, the news release said.
The commission is also soliciting comment about the trading of crypto asset securities on such platforms as well as specific features of the proposed amendments that would apply to all securities.
The initial change proposal was made by the Commission in January 2022, and the discussion period was reopened in May 2022. On June 13, 2022, the comment period was once again closed.
"The Commission received many comment letters on the January 2022 proposal that, among other things, requested information about the application of the existing rules and the application of the proposed amendments to systems that trade crypto asset securities and meet the proposed definition of exchange or trading systems that use distributed ledger or blockchain technology, including systems commenters characterize as decentralized finance or “DeF,” the SEC said in a fact sheet that accompanied the news release.
The public comment period will be open for an additional 30 days after publication of the reopening release in the Federal Register, the news release said.
“I believe this supplemental release will help address comments on the proposal from various market participants, particularly those in the crypto markets,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. “Make no mistake: many crypto trading platforms already come under the current definition of an exchange and thus have an existing duty to comply with the securities laws. Investors in the crypto markets must receive the same time-tested protections that the securities laws provide in all other markets. I welcome additional public comment on all aspects of the proposal in light of the information in this supplemental release.”
