Which US agencies regulate crypto, and what does each one cover?

No single regulator

The US has no one crypto regulator. Different agencies look at different questions: is it a security, is it a commodity, does the business move money, is it a bank, and what tax is due.^1,2,3,4,8 States can add their own licences on top.⁵

The Howey test

US securities law covers "investment contracts". In 1946, the Supreme Court decided a case about citrus groves in Lake County, Florida, sold together with a service contract to farm them.⁹ It said an investment contract is a scheme where "a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely from the efforts of the promoter or a third party".⁹

In March 2026, the SEC summed up the test in three parts:¹

1. an investment of money,¹
2. in a common enterprise,¹
3. with an expectation of profits derived from the efforts of others.¹

The Court said it does not matter whether the business is speculative, or whether the thing sold has value of its own.⁹ The test looks at the whole scheme.⁹

The SEC: securities

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates securities. Its approach to crypto changed in 2025 and 2026.^7,1

• 21 January 2025: the SEC launched a Crypto Task Force. It said that, until then, it had "relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively".⁷
• 27 February 2025: the SEC agreed with Coinbase to dismiss its civil enforcement case against the exchange. The SEC said this was not based on any assessment of the merits of its claims, and did not reflect its position on any other case.¹⁰
• 17 March 2026: the SEC issued an interpretation of how securities law applies to crypto assets, and the CFTC joined it.¹¹ It took effect on 23 March 2026.¹
• 18 August 2026: the SEC proposed rules called Regulation Crypto Assets, with two exemptions under which issuers of some investment contracts involving crypto assets would have to make certain disclosures; on 24 October 2026 they were still only a proposal.¹²

The March 2026 interpretation sorts crypto assets into five groups.¹

There is a catch. A crypto asset that is not a security can still be offered and sold as part of an investment contract, which is a security.¹ So how a token is sold still matters.¹

The interpretation replaced the SEC staff's 2019 "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets".¹ It does not replace the Howey test, which the SEC called "binding legal precedent".¹ The SEC also asked for public comments and said it may refine the interpretation.¹

The CFTC: commodities and derivatives

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversees US derivatives markets, such as futures.¹³ Its customer brochure says virtual currencies such as bitcoin "have been determined to be commodities" under the Commodity Exchange Act.²

The brochure says the CFTC gets involved when a virtual currency is used in a derivatives contract, or when there is fraud or manipulation involving one traded in interstate commerce.² In the March 2026 release, the SEC noted that any crypto asset that is not a security, except a payment stablecoin from a permitted issuer, could be a "commodity" under that Act.¹

FinCEN: money transmission

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) applies the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The Secretary of the Treasury has delegated to FinCEN's Director the power to implement, administer and enforce it.¹⁴ Among other things, the BSA requires money services businesses to run anti-money-laundering programmes.³

Its May 2019 guidance explains when a crypto business is a money transmitter. "Money transmission services" means accepting currency, funds or "other value that substitutes for currency" from one person, and transmitting it to another location or person.³ FinCEN treats convertible virtual currency as such value.³

A money transmitter is a type of money services business (MSB). It must keep a written anti-money-laundering programme.³ It must also register with FinCEN "within 180 days of starting to engage in money transmission".³ The regulation says the registration form is due by the end of "the 180-day period beginning on the day following the date the business is established".¹⁵

Bank regulators: OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC

US banks are supervised by federal agencies including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).^4,16,17 In 2025, all three eased their earlier crypto guidance:

• 7 March 2025: the OCC confirmed that crypto custody, certain stablecoin activities and running blockchain nodes are allowed for national banks. It dropped the need to get its non-objection first.⁴
• 28 March 2025: the FDIC said banks it supervises may do permissible crypto activities without its prior approval.¹⁷
• 24 April 2025: the Federal Reserve withdrew its 2022 letter asking banks to tell it in advance about crypto activities. With the FDIC, it joined the OCC in withdrawing two 2023 joint statements on crypto risks.¹⁶

Module 23 covers banking and crypto in more depth.⁴

States: New York's BitLicense

States regulate too. In June 2015, New York's Department of Financial Services issued its virtual currency regulation, 23 NYCRR Part 200.⁵ To do virtual currency business in New York, a firm can apply for a BitLicense, or for a charter under New York banking law, such as a limited purpose trust company.⁵ A BitLicense applicant must also apply separately for a money transmission licence.⁵

Congress: a market-structure bill, not yet law

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R. 3633, is also known as the CLARITY Act of 2025.⁶ Its official title as introduced, in May 2025, says it would set up a system for the SEC and the CFTC to regulate the offer and sale of digital commodities.^6,18

As of 22 October 2026, Congress.gov listed the 15 September 2026 actions as the latest. The bill has not passed the Senate and is not law.⁶

Compare a separate federal stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act. It passed the Senate on 17 June 2025 and the House on 17 July 2025, and was signed on 18 July 2025, becoming Public Law 119-27.^19,1 Module 22 covers it.¹⁹

Tax (pointer)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says that, for US tax purposes, digital assets are property, not currency.⁸ Module 30 covers crypto tax.⁸