Project Crypto revives the SEC and CFTC's 1980s playbook for regulating new markets

There's a strong historical basis for the two financial regulators to decide, together, how to divide up their responsibilities to crypto market participants.

“Working together with common purpose, we can deliver clearer guidance, consistent standards, and a regulatory framework that reflects how markets actually function instead of how they used to.” —SEC Chair Paul Atkins, opening remarks at the joint SEC-CFTC harmonization event, January 29, 2026.

America’s two financial regulators look set to come to an un…