US Regulators Draw the Line: What the SEC's New Token Taxonomy Means for UK Founders Tokenising Equity

On 17 March 2026, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued joint guidance that the digital assets industry has been waiting over a decade for. For the first time, the SEC formally defined different types of crypto assets and how the regulator will approach them — ending years of enforcement-by-litigation and replacing it with a clear taxonomy. The headline finding is direct: most crypto assets are not securities. The five-category framework The guidance establishes five formal categories. Four sit entirely outside securities law: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, and payment stablecoins. Only the fifth category — digital securities — falls under the SEC's remit. Sixteen major tokens have been explicitly named as digital commodities, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano and Chainlink — now under CFTC oversight, not the SEC. Activities including staking, protocol mining and airdrops have been cleared as non-securities transactions. What this means for tokenised equity Here is the critical point for UK founders: tokenised equity sits squarely in that fifth category — digital securities. Traditional company shares represented as digital tokens are still securities. This guidance does not change that. What it does change is the clarity of the conversation. The guidance confirms what the FCA's own cryptoasset regime is moving towards — a clear, workable distinction between crypto assets that function like commodities, and those that represent genuine ownership stakes in companies. Tokenised equity is the latter. It always was. The safe harbour proposal The SEC also proposed a safe harbour allowing smaller startups to raise up to $5 million over four years without immediate securities law exposure, with more established companies raising up to $75 million under the same framework. This is significant. A formal safe harbour for early-stage tokenised raises — if mirrored in UK regulation — would materially lower the barrier to entry for founders exploring tokenised equity. The UK parallel The SEC's guidance does not apply in the UK. But it matters here. The FCA's cryptoasset regime is live. PISCES launched in 2025. HM Treasury is actively consulting on tokenised securities. The direction of travel mirrors what the US just formalised. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are moving toward the same conclusion: tokenised financial instruments deserve their own clear regulatory framework, distinct from speculative crypto assets. The question for UK founders is no longer whether that framework is coming. It is how fast, and whether you are ready for it. The founders who understand that distinction now will be better positioned than those waiting for complete certainty before moving. For legal and regulatory guidance specific to your situation, speak to a qualified adviser. TokenisingStartups.com does not provide legal advice.