In a significant move, the US federal government is advancing concrete regulatory steps for the digital asset space. A recent report indicates that a key White House office is now reviewing a proposal that could reshape industry rules.

White House Initiates Key Review Process

According to Bloomberg, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has received and begun reviewing a proposal submitted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The central aim of this proposal is to clarify how existing financial regulations apply to broker-dealers engaged in digital asset activities.

The Heart of the SEC Proposal

An SEC spokesperson indicated that the proposal seeks to consider amendments to core requirements for broker-dealers, primarily focusing on three critical areas:

  • Financial Responsibility Rules: Defining capital reserve and financial safeguard obligations for brokers custodying and trading client digital assets.
  • Recordkeeping Requirements: Potentially updating or specifying archiving standards for transaction records, client identities, and asset flows, addressing the nature of on-chain and non-traditional assets.
  • Reporting Obligations: Revising the regime for regular reporting of financial conditions and business activities to regulators to better cover the risks of digital asset operations.

This is widely seen as the SEC's effort to build a clearer enforcement framework for its long-held stance that many digital assets should be treated as securities, thereby bringing relevant trading platforms and intermediaries under its traditional regulatory umbrella.

Parallel Action by the CFTC

Around the same time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted a separate proposal to the OMB. This proposal aims to strengthen consumer protection measures for "prediction markets."

Prediction markets allow users to speculate on future event outcomes, often involving products tied to digital assets and blockchain technology. The CFTC's move shows regulators are working simultaneously from different product angles (security tokens vs. commodity/derivative contracts) to construct a more comprehensive regulatory net.

A Signal of Regulatory Coordination

The near-simultaneous submission of proposals to the White House OMB by the SEC and CFTC is not coincidental. It sends a clear signal: US federal agencies are coordinating efforts to systematically address regulatory gaps for digital assets under existing financial laws.

The OMB's review is a critical step in the federal rulemaking process, assessing the proposal's economic impact, effects on small businesses, and administrative burden. Upon clearance, the proposal will enter a public notice and comment period before potentially becoming binding regulation.

These developments foreshadow a future operating environment for participants in the US digital asset market, particularly core intermediaries like broker-dealers, that will feature clearer requirements and heightened regulatory scrutiny, regardless of the final rule specifics.