U.S. SEC Releases Draft Strategic Plan: Providing Regulatory Basis for Digital Assets, Clarifying Division of Jurisdiction with CFTC

On June 3rd, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026-2030 for public comment. The draft outlines goals such as "establishing a robust regulatory foundation for digital assets and distributed ledger technology through a rational, coherent, and principled approach." The document states that a modernized framework will also ensure that custody, trading, and staking services can operate under appropriate regulation, avoiding duplicative or conflicting requirements, while clarifying jurisdictional issues between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This coordination aims to ensure the crypto market has clear, principled, and regulation-based rules of engagement, fostering innovation while maintaining the highest level of investor protection. Furthermore, the document proposes that the agency will responsibly leverage artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to further improve regulation, reduce costs, and unlock new efficiencies.