SEC Chief Eyes Rule Exemptions for Crypto Trading by December

Wall Street’s top regulator said he wants by the end of the year a new “innovation exemption” to let crypto firms immediately launch products — the latest example of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s more friendly approach to digital assets.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also said on Tuesday that the agency would be working to write new rules for crypto in the coming months. In July, Atkins floated the idea of an exemption to let some businesses quickly enter the market with new technologies without having “to comply with incompatible or burdensome prescriptive regulatory requirements.”

Paul Atkins

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Since President ...