SEC eases crypto regulations as White House doubles down on support for digital assets
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released new rule changes regarding crypto assets, providing what it describes as a “clear” regulatory framework that will enable easier development of crypto markets.
The new rules, which the SEC named “Regulation Crypto Assets,” are the first changes since the SEC issued its interpretation of how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets earlier in March.
Included in the new proposal are two exemptions from the registration requirements under the Securities Act, the first one would allow companies to “permit offerings of up to US$5 million during a four-year period,” while the second would “permit offerings of up to US$75 million during each 12-month period.”
Under the exemptions, companies would be required to make “certain principles-based narrative disclosures” to investors, and for the second exemption, to provide financial statements and be subject to ongoing reporting requirements. Anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions will also be in place.
“As we continue the Commission’s efforts to provide clarity for crypto markets, and as Congress works to establish a lasting regulatory framework, Regulation Crypto Assets seeks to provide crypto asset entrepreneurs and market participants with clear pathways to raise capital under the federal securities laws,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins in a statement.
The current administration has focused heavily on crypto regulation, with President Donald Trump having direct ties to crypto ventures himself. Earlier in August, Senator Elizabeth Warren pushed the SEC to investigate Trump’s memecoin over financial disclosure issues.
The call is part of a broader issue as lawmakers hit a stalemate in the Clarity Act over the ethical implications of having government officials holding tokens. The Act is currently at an impasse in Congress, with a new Senate vote scheduled for next month.
But that might soon change. During a meeting with crypto officials – including Atkins, CFTC chairman Mike Selig, and White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, as well as various crypto CEOs – on Wednesday at the White House, Trump called on Congress to pass a “fair version” of the bill.
Trump argued that it was imperative to pass the bill to keep crypto companies operating in the US, while also establishing the US as the “undisputed leader” of crypto and other technologies such as AI and prediction markets.
Trump recently reported over US$1.4 billion in income from family crypto-related ventures, with a new Reuters/Ipsos poll finding 63% of respondents saying it was inappropriate for Trump and his family to profit from crypto.
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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Washington’s crypto reset reaches gambling
The SEC’s proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets” is part of a broader policy turn that has been building since President Donald Trump returned to office with an explicitly pro-digital-asset agenda. For crypto markets, the proposal offers potential exemptions from securities registration and a path for smaller issuers to raise capital with lighter disclosure requirements. For online gambling, prediction markets and payments companies, it signals something wider: Washington is trying to replace enforcement-led ambiguity with rules that could determine which crypto-adjacent businesses can move onshore.
The stakes are particularly high for gambling operators because crypto has already become a major payments and product layer outside regulated markets. Offshore crypto casinos have grown by exploiting faster settlement, lower payment costs and looser product-approval regimes than licensed gambling companies face. The question now is whether a clearer federal framework for crypto assets will eventually narrow that gap or accelerate it by giving digital-asset firms more legitimacy while gambling regulators remain cautious.
That tension was visible in the industry before the SEC proposal. In a recent profile of BetHog’s push on the crypto gambling frontier, founder Nigel Eccles argued that crypto’s liquidity and low transaction costs make it a natural fit for online betting, even as the platform avoids regulated markets. His view reflects a common complaint among crypto gambling entrepreneurs: traditional licensing rules and payment infrastructure slow product launches and raise costs, pushing innovation offshore.
From enforcement anxiety to rules of the road
The current regulatory shift follows years of friction between crypto companies and U.S. agencies. Under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the agency brought major enforcement actions against firms including Coinbase, Binance and Ripple, arguing that much of the industry was operating outside securities law. That strategy produced court fights but little certainty, leaving companies to guess whether tokens, staking products or other digital-asset services would be treated as securities.
The Trump administration has taken a different posture. Paul Atkins, a crypto-friendly former commissioner now leading the SEC, has moved to establish defined compliance channels rather than rely primarily on litigation. The proposed exemptions for offerings of up to US$5 million over four years and up to US$75 million in a 12-month period fit that approach. They would not eliminate anti-fraud and anti-manipulation rules, but they would give entrepreneurs a route to raise capital without the full burden of traditional securities registration.
That is the type of “rules of the road” many industry executives have sought. At ICE Barcelona, Stake General Counsel Jeremiah Ooi said it would be “unwise” for gambling companies to ignore crypto, pointing to the scale of stablecoins and the growing regulatory attention around blockchain. His comments captured the industry’s dilemma: crypto can improve transaction transparency and potentially strengthen know-your-customer and anti-money laundering controls, but only if companies invest in the systems and compliance staff needed to interpret blockchain data.
Prediction markets blur the line with betting
The SEC move also lands as prediction markets become a central battleground between financial regulation and gambling regulation. Event contracts on elections, economic indicators and sports outcomes sit between derivatives trading and wagering. That ambiguity has drawn major companies, including crypto exchanges and sports betting brands, into a market that regulators are still defining.
Trump Media & Technology Group’s recent partnership with Crypto.com to launch Truth Predict shows how quickly the sector is converging. The planned product would let Truth Social users trade on future events, with Crypto.com Derivatives North America, a CFTC-registered exchange, facilitating contracts. The arrangement links a presidentially aligned media company, a major crypto exchange and a federally regulated derivatives structure, underscoring why Congress and regulators are under pressure to clarify jurisdiction.
Crypto.com has been expanding aggressively into event-based products. The company’s US$400 million investment from Citadel Securities gave it a US$20 billion valuation and capital to pursue tokenized securities, derivatives and prediction markets. Its push places it alongside Kalshi and Polymarket, whose growth has helped turn prediction markets from a niche product into a mainstream policy issue. The more these platforms resemble betting products to consumers, the harder it becomes for gambling regulators to remain on the sidelines.
Crypto gambling’s cost advantage
The most immediate business case for crypto in gambling remains payments. Operators that rely on cards, bank transfers and alternative payment providers often face high fees, chargebacks and settlement delays. Crypto advocates argue that blockchain payments reduce those costs and give operators instant, borderless settlement. In gambling, where margins are shaped by acquisition expenses, bonuses, taxes and payment processing, that difference can be material.
Eccles has framed BetHog’s offshore model around that economics. By using Solana, he says the company can process transactions at negligible cost and release new games rapidly, including in-house titles designed for synchronous play with streamers. The model illustrates why regulators face a competitive problem. If licensed operators cannot use crypto or face lengthy approval periods for every product change, offshore rivals can move faster and market themselves as more innovative.
Other gambling companies have taken narrower but still revealing steps. Rivalry added the $TRUMP meme coin as a payment option shortly after the token’s launch, with Chief Executive Steven Salz saying the company’s infrastructure allowed it to respond quickly to viral crypto moments. The move, detailed in coverage of Rivalry’s meme-coin strategy, showed how crypto-first operators can turn speculative assets into acquisition channels. It also highlighted the risks: meme coins can swing sharply in value and raise questions about consumer protection, conflicts and suitability.
Politics creates both momentum and risk
The administration’s embrace of digital assets has given the crypto industry political momentum. Stablecoin legislation, pro-crypto appointments and White House meetings with industry executives have all encouraged companies to plan for a more permissive environment. But the same political alignment has intensified scrutiny because Trump and his family have financial ties to crypto ventures, including meme coins and other digital-asset businesses.
That conflict-of-interest concern has complicated congressional negotiations over the Clarity Act and related market-structure legislation. Lawmakers broadly agree that digital assets need clearer oversight, but they remain divided over how to handle tokens linked to public officials and whether federal rules should preempt state-level authorities. For gambling and prediction-market companies, the outcome matters because federal definitions of commodities, securities and permitted event contracts could either open a path to regulated expansion or leave products exposed to enforcement challenges.
The SEC proposal does not resolve those issues alone. It addresses capital formation and disclosure for crypto assets, not sports betting, casino games or political contracts. Still, it contributes to a larger regulatory architecture that could decide how crypto-native firms interact with licensed gambling, financial exchanges and consumer platforms. If Congress follows with broader legislation, companies that have built compliance systems may gain a first-mover advantage. If political disputes stall the process, offshore operators and gray-market products are likely to keep expanding.
What comes next for operators
For established gambling companies, the lesson is not that crypto adoption is imminent across regulated markets. Many regulators still prohibit or discourage direct crypto wagering, and operators must manage volatility, anti-money laundering duties, sanctions screening and responsible gambling obligations. But the direction of U.S. policy is forcing a reassessment. Crypto is no longer merely an offshore workaround; it is becoming part of mainstream finance, political media and derivatives trading.
That shift could create several paths. Licensed operators may first adopt stablecoin payments in tightly controlled settings. Prediction-market companies may continue using federal derivatives rules to expand into sports and political events. Crypto casinos may seek regulated entry once their products mature and rules become clearer. Exchanges such as Crypto.com may become infrastructure providers for gambling-adjacent products rather than simple trading venues.
The SEC’s rulemaking is therefore best understood as one piece of a broader migration. Digital assets are moving from regulatory periphery to institutional finance, while gambling and event trading are moving closer to financial markets. The resulting overlap will test whether U.S. regulators can encourage innovation without creating loopholes for unlicensed wagering, weak disclosures or politically conflicted token projects.
