The SEC and CFTC issued joint interpretive guidance on March 17, 2026, classifying 16 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum as digital commodities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released a joint 68-page interpretive guidance document on March 17, 2026, establishing a framework that classifies 16 cryptocurrencies as digital commodities and ending a decade of regulatory ambiguity.
The guidance names Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, Aptos, Avalanche, Hedera, Litecoin, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, Stellar, Tezos, and Chainlink as digital commodities. This classification places these assets under CFTC jurisdiction for spot markets and SEC jurisdiction for derivatives and lending products that involve securities-like contracts.
The joint statement also introduced a new taxonomy beyond digital commodities. Digital collectibles receive separate treatment for items with unique properties and limited utility. Digital tools cover tokens with specific protocol function. Stablecoins are recognized as a distinct category with separate prudential rules. Digital securities remain under SEC purview when issued as investment contracts under Howey test principles.
SEC chair Paul Atkins and CFTC chair Christy Goldsmith Romm signed the guidance together, signaling unprecedented interagency alignment. Previous attempts at joint rulemaking had foundered on jurisdictional disputes. This effort succeeded by clarifying spheres of influence rather than fighting for control of the entire space.
The guidance ruled definitively on several activities that had remained legally uncertain. Protocol mining does not constitute a securities transaction. Staking rewards are not securities offerings. Certain airdrops fall outside securities regulation. Wrapped tokens—representing underlying assets on different blockchains—do not automatically become securities by virtue of wrapping. These clarifications unblocked years of development that had stalled pending regulatory certainty.
The classification framework prioritizes the nature of the asset rather than the identity of those operating related infrastructure. A token can be a digital commodity even if issued by a centralized entity. Its classification depends on whether it functions as a commodity—a fungible good with spot markets—rather than on governance structures or the motives of issuers.
Institutional capital had waited for this clarity. The guidance was immediately praised by the asset management industry. Fidelity, BlackRock, and Grayscale issued statements within hours. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, already approved, became unambiguously appropriate institutional holdings. Spot ETFs for the other 14 classified assets moved toward approval processes that had stalled without explicit commodity classification.
This ruling also mattered for custody and prime brokerage services. Banks and traditional finance firms needed legal cover to offer services around these assets. The CFTC and SEC guidance provided that cover, allowing the financial system to integrate crypto assets without fear of sudden reclassification or enforcement action.
The guidance noted that classification decisions were based on current use and characteristics. New tokens would be evaluated case-by-case using the framework outlined. This preserved regulatory flexibility while providing clear principles. The effect was to move toward rules-based regulation rather than the prior enforcement-first approach that had characterized the 2021-2024 period.
