[Animats]

> You can't expect people to obey the law if you won't tell them what it is.

That's an excuse the crypto community dreamed up. The SEC's position, pre-Trump, was quite clear: crypto assets are securities. File an S-1, as you would for an IPO, with all the usual disclosures, under penalty of perjury. A very few crypto issues did that.

This new statement is mostly about crypto "exchanges". Pure exchanges aren't so bad. At no point in a trade does the NYSE own the asset. It's that crypto exchanges are usually not just exchanges, but brokers, dealers, custodians, and lenders. All of which can lose assets.

Actual memo: [1] It doesn't really change much. Frauds against investors can still be prosecuted.

[1] https://archive.is/Td0Fn