The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 18 proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, or Reg Crypto, its first framework specifically tailored to crypto-asset issuance and sales rather than applying traditional stock rules. Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn said the proposal could allow compliant token projects to offer securities publicly, including to non-accredited investors, while creating a mechanism for certain investment contracts to cease being treated as securities once specified conditions are met. The proposal could exempt qualifying crypto financings from full securities registration, including up to $5 million cumulatively over four years or up to $75 million in a single year, subject to disclosure and reporting requirements. It also includes a conditional safe harbor, or limited protection from enforcement, for some token projects and could limit certain state registration requirements. The initiative is moving alongside the CLARITY Act, which would establish a federal digital-asset market-structure framework. President Trump urged Congress to pass a fair version after meeting executives from Coinbase, a16z, Ripple and Kraken to discuss jobs, innovation and efforts to attract crypto companies back to the United States. Ethics provisions remain a central obstacle, while industry representatives seek a bipartisan compromise. CFTC Chair Mike Selig said the bill is critical to reducing uncertainty and that the derivatives regulator could use its existing authority to establish crypto-market rules if Congress remains stalled. Separately, former Signature Bank Chairman Scott Shay launched N3XT Digital Dollar, or NDD, a public-blockchain dollar-deposit project designed to compete with stablecoins. NDD supports around-the-clock dollar transfers and is backed one-to-one by cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. Dragonfly partner Rob Hadick said crypto startup activity is recovering despite heavy AI investment, with prediction markets, institutional adoption and improving U.S. regulation potentially supporting the industry's next growth cycle.