On January 29, the SEC and CFTC jointly announced the relaunch of “Project Crypto” (previously covered by InfoBytes here), with both agency chairs delivering remarks outlining a new phase in digital asset regulation as Congress advances digital asset market structure legislation.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins emphasized that the agencies’ collaboration aims to address longstanding issues of fragmented and overlapping regulation, which have created confusion and friction for market participants. He noted that — as trading, clearing, custody, and risk management increasingly flow across asset classes, technologies, and platforms — the agencies must harmonize oversight to reflect modern market dynamics rather than historical jurisdictional boundaries.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig expanded on the initiative’s goals, describing Project Crypto as being focused on pairing current digital asset markets with a federal regulatory framework that is disciplined in regulatory execution and grounded in merit neutrality and free market principles. Selig further explained that Project Crypto seeks to meet this objective by sequencing the enactment of new requirements through sensible implementation of roadmaps, creating clear regulatory on-ramps for participants, modernizing surveillance tools to reflect market activity, and engaging transparently with new entrants as well as incumbents, investors and consumers.