Who Regulates Crypto? Inside the SEC–CFTC Divide

The dominant narrative in the digital asset sector celebrates the end of confrontation between the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTC ) . The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2026 and the launch of Project Crypto as a joint initiative suggest a change of era. From trench warfare to risk-based classification During the previous cycle, the dominant strategy was regulation by enforcement . The SEC, relying on an expansive reading of the Howey test , claimed jurisdiction over most token offerings, while the CFTC defended its competence over Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities . The result was an overlap of investigations, duplicate registrations, and a compliance burden that pushed projects toward jurisdictions with more predictable frameworks.

BeCrypto News shows a short excerpt and links to the publisher. The full report belongs to Crypto Economy.