The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced it will be revisiting the proposed redefinition of an “exchange” under the agency’s rules — a move which could include crypto market participants in decentralized finance, or DeFi.
In an April 14 open meeting with SEC commissioners and staff, chair Gary Gensler said the proposed rule amendments could benefit investors and markets by bringing certain brokers under additional regulatory scrutiny as well as “modernizing” rules which define an exchange. Under the proposal, an “exchange” would be more closely defined as a system that “bring[s] together buyers and sellers of securities through structured methods to negotiate a trade” and explicitly include DeFi.
“This would account for the evolving nature and electronification of trading platforms in the last 25 years,” said Gensler.
The commission proposed similar amendments in January 2022, keeping the comment period for the public open until June. Some crypto advocacy groups criticized the SEC’s actions at the time, suggesting it was an overreach of the commission’s authority which could jeopardize participation in the space.
Gensler added:
“Given how crypto trading platforms operate today, many of them…
