SEC wants to relax controversial crypto rule

An SEC rule introduced in 2022 caused political debate in the US. Now the agency wants to relax the controversial crypto clause.

The American SEC wants to allow banks and brokerage firms to not include their customers' crypto assets on their balance sheets. That reports Bloomberg, referring to a source at the SEC familiar with the agency's methods.

Indeed, employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have indicated that a relaxation of the so-called "Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121" is imminent.

The rule introduced by the SEC in 2022, SAB 121 for short, requires public companies to list the cryptocurrencies they manage as liabilities on their corporate balance sheets. A costly process that would especially disadvantage smaller companies in partnering with crypto service providers, critics said.

In the U.S. Senate already found a vote in May took place, with cross-party votes in favor of lifting the clause. In early June, president Joe Biden however, vetoed it: abolishing it would undermine the SEC's expanded powers over accounting practices, it argued.

The delegates were able to overrule this decision by a two-thirds majority on July 11, but failed.

Now, however, the SEC is convinced that the guidelines work and that companies have adapted to resist "threats such as hacker attacks and business downtime for investors."