Leaked Memo Reveals SEC Roundtable Blueprint for Crypto Regulation
An internal SEC planning memo obtained by multiple crypto media outlets on Sunday reveals the full agenda and confirmed panelist list for the April 16 roundtable on the CLARITY of Digital Assets Act, the most significant crypto regulatory legislation currently advancing through Congress. The document, marked "Pre-Decisional — Not for Public Distribution," outlines a six-hour session structured around four major regulatory topics.
The CLARITY Act, formally introduced in the House Financial Services Committee in February, seeks to establish clear jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and CFTC for digital asset oversight, create a registration framework for digital asset exchanges, and define criteria for when a token constitutes a security versus a commodity.
Full Agenda Breakdown
According to the leaked memo, the roundtable will be structured as follows:
- Panel 1 (9:00-10:30 AM): Token Classification Framework — Defining the boundary between securities and commodities in the digital asset context
- Panel 2 (10:45 AM-12:15 PM): DeFi Governance and Regulatory Approaches — How decentralized protocols fit within existing or new regulatory frameworks
- Panel 3 (1:30-3:00 PM): Stablecoin Oversight and Payment System Integration — Regulatory standards for fiat-backed, algorithmic, and yield-bearing stablecoins
- Panel 4 (3:15-4:45 PM): Market Structure and Investor Protection — Exchange registration, custody standards, and retail investor safeguards
Confirmed Panelists
The memo lists 24 confirmed panelists spanning industry, academia, consumer advocacy, and government. Notable participants include:
Industry representatives: Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase; Charles Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos; Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation; Perianne Boring, founder of the Digital Chamber of Commerce; and Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer of Variant Fund.
Academic and policy experts: Professor Hilary Allen of American University Washington College of Law, known for her critical perspective on DeFi; Timothy Massad, former CFTC Chairman and current research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School; and Professor Chris Brummer of Georgetown Law, who has advised multiple congressional committees on digital asset regulation.
Consumer advocacy: Mark Hays, senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform, and Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.
"The panelist composition suggests the SEC is genuinely seeking a balanced dialogue rather than stacking the deck in either direction. The inclusion of both industry-friendly voices and prominent skeptics is encouraging," noted Jai Massari, partner at Davis Polk and a leading digital asset regulatory attorney.
Key Issues at Stake
The token classification panel is widely viewed as the most consequential. The CLARITY Act proposes a framework under which digital assets would be presumed to be commodities unless they meet specific criteria indicating they function as investment contracts. This would effectively reverse the SEC's current approach under Chair-designate Paul Atkins, though the details of the criteria remain heavily debated.
The DeFi panel is expected to be the most contentious. The leaked memo includes a set of discussion questions that reveal the SEC is grappling with fundamental questions about how to apply regulatory concepts designed for centralized intermediaries to protocols that operate through smart contracts and decentralized governance.
Among the specific questions listed in the memo: whether DAOs should be required to register as broker-dealers if their governance tokens grant voting rights over protocol fee structures, and whether liquidity providers on automated market makers should be considered as operating an unregistered securities exchange.
Market and Industry Reaction
The leaked agenda has been received positively by industry participants. Coinbase's Paul Grewal posted on X that he looked forward to constructive engagement and described the CLARITY Act as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide regulatory certainty. The Blockchain Association issued a statement praising the inclusive panelist selection and the breadth of topics under discussion.
Crypto markets showed a modest positive response to the leak. Tokens associated with U.S.-based projects and regulatory compliance themes, including Coinbase stock (up 3.2%), Stellar XLM (up 5.8%), and Hedera HBAR (up 4.1%), outperformed the broader market on Sunday afternoon.
Congressional Timeline
The roundtable is one of several SEC has scheduled as part of a broader review of digital asset regulation under the new commission. The CLARITY Act has bipartisan support in the House, with 47 co-sponsors, and companion legislation is expected in the Senate by May. Industry observers estimate that a final bill could reach the president's desk by the fourth quarter of 2026 if the legislative momentum continues.
The SEC declined to comment on the leaked document but confirmed that the April 16 roundtable is scheduled and will be webcast publicly.
