On June 6, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its Draft Strategic Plan for 2026 to 2030. SEC chairman Paul Atkins, who was sworn in last April, described the draft as the start of a “new day” for clearer crypto regulations, reduced enforcement overreach, and the modernization of the agency’s systems to support innovation while protecting investors.
The SEC’s focus on the crypto market is one of the most consequential parts of that plan. It states that “crypto asset technologies have the potential to revolutionize America’s financial infrastructure and deliver new optionality, efficiencies, cost reductions, transparency, and risk mitigation for the benefit of all Americans.”
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But to nurture its growth, the plan calls for the agency to provide a “firm regulatory foundation for digital assets and distributed ledger technologies through a rational, coherent, and principled approach.” It also calls for clearer separation of regulatory responsibilities between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding cryptocurrencies.
This draft plan, along with the proposed CLARITY Act to regulate digital assets, indicates that the government is taking cryptocurrencies much more seriously. Let’s see which tokens will benefit from that shift — and which ones could be left in the dust.
The cryptocurrencies that will benefit from tighter regulations
The SEC and CFTC have already jointly approved Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies, as commodities rather than securities. That designation should shield them from tighter regulations, which will likely classify many smaller cryptocurrencies as “unlicensed securities” rather than commodities.
That downward pressure on the smaller tokens should drive more institutional investors to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ethereum, the world’s largest developer-oriented blockchain, will also benefit from a crackdown on smaller decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contract platforms. Ethereum’s more resilient Layer-1 (L1) blockchain competitors, including Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Cardano (CRYPTO: SOL), should also resist that selling pressure.
Under those new regulations, stablecoins that are fully backed by U.S. dollars and Treasuries could also become a viable alternative to real U.S. dollars. That’s bad news for traditional banks, but it’s great news for stablecoin issuers like Circle (NYSE: CRCL).