U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman: Bitcoin and Ethereum Now Clearly Defined as Non-Securities On March 18, at the 2026 Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C., SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced a new framework for token classification and investment contract interpretation, ending long-standing regulatory uncertainty. This framework, based on the Genius Act, exempts four categories of non-securities: digital goods (Bitcoin, Ethereum), digital collectibles, digital instruments, and payment stablecoins. Only “digital securities” (tokenized traditional securities) are governed by securities laws. Atkins emphasized that the SEC is no longer the “Securities and All Matters Commission.”