--- title: "What Is the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)?" term: "SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)" type: glossary_term canonical: https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/sec.html --- # What Is the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)? > The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is the federal agency that regulates American securities markets. Created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, it decides which crypto assets count as securities, reviews filings, and brings civil enforcement actions. The **U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)** is the federal agency that regulates American securities markets. Congress created it in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in the wake of the 1929 crash, with three stated aims: protect investors, maintain fair and orderly markets, and facilitate capital formation. It is led by five commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, no more than three of whom may come from one political party. ## Why a securities regulator matters in crypto The SEC's authority attaches to *securities*, so most US crypto arguments begin with a definition. The test comes from a 1946 Supreme Court case about Florida orange groves, *SEC v. W. J. Howey Co.*: an arrangement is an investment contract — and therefore a security — where there is an investment of money in a common enterprise with an expectation of profit derived from the efforts of others. Applied to a token, that one sentence decides who supervises it, what must be disclosed, and where it may legally trade. The agency works in three main modes: - **Rulemaking** — proposing and adopting rules under statutes it already administers. - **Review** — of registration statements and filings, including the listing standards behind products such as a [spot Bitcoin ETF](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/spot-bitcoin-etf.md). - **Enforcement** — civil actions seeking penalties, disgorgement and injunctions. The SEC brings no criminal charges itself; those are referred to the Department of Justice. ## Where it sits next to the CFTC Derivatives on commodities fall to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than the SEC. Because a token can be argued into either bucket, that boundary has been the central US policy question, and the proposed CLARITY Act was written to assign it explicitly. ## How MoonWire uses the term We report SEC activity descriptively and with dates: a roundtable scheduled while venues listed stock products, in [this week in review](/insights/week-in-review-2026-09-01.html), and the agency's part in the prediction-market jurisdiction fight, in [this regulator tracker](/insights/regulator-tracker-2026-08-18.html). More context sits on the [crypto regulation](/insights/topics/crypto-regulation.html) hub. ## What it is not The SEC is not a price regulator and not an endorser. A registration, an accepted filing, or the absence of an action says nothing about whether an asset is worth holding. ## Further reading - [Wikipedia: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Securities_and_Exchange_Commission) ## Where this appears in MoonWire analysis - [The Senate Blocked the Clarity Act 49-50. The Venues Kept Building Anyway.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/market-pulse-2026-09-17.md) — Sep 17, 2026 - [Three Chains Prepped for Quantum Attacks. A Weak Random Number Broke First.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/state-of-market-2026-08.md) — Sep 14, 2026 - [Tokenized Stocks vs Tokenized Equities vs RWAs: What Actually Shipped in 2026](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/tokenized-stocks-vs-tokenized-equities-vs-rwas.md) — Sep 12, 2026 - [Prediction Markets Listed Perps. A Perp Venue Listed Football.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/week-in-review-2026-09-08.md) — Sep 8, 2026 - [Crypto Venues Listed Stock Products All Week. The SEC Scheduled a Roundtable.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/week-in-review-2026-09-01.md) — Sep 1, 2026 - [The News Ran Exploits and CPI. Tradermayne's Feed Ran Leverage Tiers.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/source-spotlight-tradermayne-2026-08-18.md) — Aug 18, 2026 - [Three Firms Counted Crypto's H1 Thefts and Got Three Different Answers](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sector-rotation-2026-07-31.md) — Aug 15, 2026 - [Crypto's New Privacy Layer Is Being Built to Disclose, Not to Hide](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/week-in-review-2026-08-11.md) — Aug 11, 2026 - [Four Governments Acted on Crypto in One Day. Three of Them Aimed at the Venues.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/crypto-rules-target-venues-russia-japan-nigeria.md) — Aug 7, 2026 - [Circle Named 11 Founding Validators for Arc. Four of Them Are BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard and DTCC.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/circle-arc-founding-validators-blackrock-visa-dtcc.md) — Aug 6, 2026 - [Strategy Sold Bitcoin to Pay a Dividend, and Saylor Separated His Coins From the Company's](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/market-pulse-2026-08-03.md) — Aug 4, 2026 - [Market Pulse - July 29: Cash Has Out-Earned Crypto's Carry Trade for 157 Days. The Fed Just Left the Cash Leg Where It Was.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/market-pulse-2026-07-29.md) — Jul 29, 2026 --- *MoonWire surfaces and summarizes public crypto news.* **General information only — not financial advice.** MoonWire Ltd. is not licensed by ASIC and holds no AFSL. This content does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs, and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. *This analysis is generated by artificial intelligence and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or fabricated. Independently verify before acting.* © 2026 MoonWire Ltd. · [Terms](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/TOS) · [Risk Disclosure](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/RISK_DISCLOSURE) · [Privacy Policy](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/PRIVACY_POLICY)