The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new framework for crypto-asset fundraising that would create two exemptions for token issuers, potentially giving smaller projects a clearer route to raise capital without completing a full securities registration.
Under the SEC’s proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets,” published on Aug. 18, issuers could raise up to $5 million over four years under one exemption. A second route would permit fundraising of up to $75 million in a 12-month period, provided the issuer meets ongoing reporting requirements. The proposal is now open to public comment for 60 days.
The plan arrives as token projects face a difficult mix of volatile spot prices, elevated U.S. borrowing costs and unresolved questions over which federal agency should supervise fast-growing crypto-adjacent markets such as event contracts and tokenized equities.
Sec proposal targets smaller token raises
The $5 million exemption could be particularly relevant to early-stage token projects that need limited development capital but cannot afford the cost and complexity of a conventional public offering. The higher $75 million exemption would carry more disclosure obligations, placing it closer to a scaled public-markets regime.
Data covering 3,244 measurable crypto projects found that 1,617 had raised $5 million or less over their lifetime, representing 49.8% of the group. The median fundraising total was $2.5 million. Those figures suggest that a large share of smaller projects could fit within the proposed lower fundraising threshold, assuming their token structures and disclosures satisfy the SEC’s final rules.
The framework remains a proposal rather than an available exemption. Its final form could change substantially during the comment period, particularly around definitions of crypto assets, resale restrictions, disclosure standards and the treatment of decentralized protocols with no conventional corporate issuer.
For project teams, the practical appeal would be a more defined compliance path at the fundraising stage. For traders, the rules could also make it easier to distinguish between projects that have made regulated disclosures and those operating through less formal token-sale structures.
Rate pressure remains a constraint on speculative markets
The proposal surfaced during a period of renewed pressure from U.S. interest rates. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield moved above 4.71% this week, raising the return available on government debt and increasing the cost of capital across risk-sensitive markets.
Federal Reserve official Alberto Musalem said he had recommended an interest-rate increase in July and did not give a clear indication of his preferred outcome for the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Musalem said he wants inflation to return to the Fed’s 2% target within 18 months, while adding that labor-market conditions are not currently contributing to inflation pressure.
Higher yields do not mechanically determine crypto prices, but they can reduce appetite for assets whose valuations depend heavily on future growth, liquidity and speculation. That leaves smaller token launches especially exposed: a regulatory opening may help fundraising mechanics, while expensive capital can make traders more selective about which projects receive support.
Bitcoin rose 7.78% over the past 24 hours in the spot-market data supplied, while Ether gained 18.13% and Solana added 11.16%. BNB rose 4.36% and Dogecoin advanced 7.10%. The same data showed sharp declines in several lower-liquidity tokens, including ALPINE, ACE and TUT, illustrating how quickly gains in major assets can coexist with abrupt reversals elsewhere.
HYPE briefly traded above $73.40 and was reported up 26% over 24 hours. BOME gained 35.97%, PEOPLE rose 29.45%, and several other smaller tokens recorded double-digit advances. Such moves can draw short-term volume, though rapid gains in newly listed or thinly traded assets often carry greater execution and liquidity risks than price changes in Bitcoin or Ether.
Prediction-market oversight remains unsettled
The debate over crypto fundraising is playing out alongside a separate conflict over prediction markets. At a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission roundtable, CME Group Chairman Terry Duffy and Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara publicly disagreed over oversight standards for event-based contracts.
The disagreement reflects a broader jurisdictional fight involving federal and state authorities. A Washington state judge ordered Kalshi to stop offering related contracts, while the CFTC directed the platform to continue trading, according to the materials provided.
Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, may also become involved in the sector. ICE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sprecher said the company would be open to joining a new Polymarket funding round if its participation helped complete the financing.
Prediction markets have attracted attention as platforms try to package political, economic and sports outcomes into tradable contracts. The legal dispute leaves operators facing uneven rules across jurisdictions, while established exchange groups assess whether regulated market infrastructure can be applied to the category.
A prediction-market measure tied to the Clarity Act was assigned a 22% chance of passage this year, up from 18%, following a White House meeting where President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to pass what he described as a fair version of the bill.
Ai infrastructure reshapes the mining landscape
Crypto mining companies are also increasingly pursuing AI data-center contracts as demand for computing capacity expands. Riot Platforms signed agreements with two large technology customers covering 241 megawatts of AI data-center capacity, with expected long-term revenue of roughly $9.8 billion.
Riot said its largest agreement covers a 191-megawatt custom facility at its Rockdale, Texas site. The initial 20-year term runs through 2048 and is expected to produce about $9.1 billion in revenue. If renewal options are exercised, the company said the deal’s total value could reach approximately $16.1 billion.
The shift places mining operators with large power connections and land holdings closer to the AI infrastructure market. Bitcoin mining difficulty stood at 127.48 trillion and network hash rate was roughly 945 exahashes per second in the supplied data, as some operators reportedly reduced use of older equipment amid power-cost pressure.
The SEC’s proposed fundraising rules, if adopted, would give emerging token issuers a more structured capital-raising option while the rest of the market confronts tighter financing conditions and a growing competition for power, data centers and regulatory clarity.
For deeper context on these SEC moves and market impact, explore our analysis in The Possible Future of Crypto Regulation in the US.
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