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- SEC Chair Atkins Says Most ICOs Fall Outside Securities Oversight
SEC Chair Atkins Says Most ICOs Fall Outside Securities Oversight
Plus: 🌙 Bitcoin After Dark ETF proposal, 💥 $300 millions in shorts liquidated, 🔒 Circle unveils USDCx for banks.
Juan Aranovich
December 10, 2025
Hi! In today’s edition:
🏛️ SEC chair says most ICOs fall outside securities regulation
🌙 New Bitcoin After Dark ETF aims to capture overnight gains
💥 Crypto rallies ahead of FOMC, triggering $300 millions in liquidations
🔒 Circle launches USDCx, a private version of USDC for banks
🎧 Banks need crypto more than ever, say the Bits + Bips crew
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By Tikta
SEC Chair Atkins Says Most ICOs Are Outside Securities Regulators’ Purview
SEC Chair Paul Atkins suggested that most initial coin offerings (ICOs) for certain token types fall outside the SEC's purview as non-securities transactions, falling instead under U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jurisdiction.
Atkins’ statements came at the Blockchain Association’s annual policy summit, in response to a question from Decrypt.
He referenced his token taxonomy with four categories: network tokens, digital collectibles, digital tools, and tokenized securities.
“ICOs transcend all four topics. Three of those areas are on the CFTC side, so we’ll let them worry about that, and we’ll focus on tokenized securities,” he said.
His remarks reflect the SEC’s shift toward clearer rulemaking under the Project Crypto initiative, which launched in early 2025. Updated guidance signaled plans for exemptions and safe harbors for compliant ICOs, airdrops, and network rewards.
Wednesday means one thing: Uneasy Money is LIVE!
At 3pm ET, tune in as hosts Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz dive into Kamino-Jup drama, Farcaster, onchain gas futures, the Base-Solana bridge, and more.
‘After Dark’ Bitcoin ETF Targets Gains Outside U.S. Hours
A new exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing from Tidal Trust II for the “Nicholas Bitcoin Treas AfterDark ETF” targets bitcoin exposure solely during U.S. market off-hours.
The fund would buy bitcoin futures, options, or spot bitcoin ETFs at market close and sell them at open to capture overnight returns, shifting to short-term U.S. Treasuries during trading hours for stability.
The approach leverages data showing bitcoin's gains often occur after hours due to thinner liquidity, Asian trading overlap, and higher volatility at night.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted last year that much of bitcoin's gains happened post-market, suggesting this "Bitcoin After Dark" could outperform traditional spot ETFs amid patterns like U.S. open selloffs.
$300 Million Shorts Liquidated as Crypto Rallies Ahead of FOMC Meeting
Bitcoin and ether led crypto markets higher late on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, setting off a cascade of liquidations for traders betting on lower prices.
Bitcoin rallied 5% to an intraday high of $94,601 within a span of two hours, while ether surged 9.7% over the same period.
Data from Coinglass shows that more than $300 million worth of shorts were liquidated across crypto markets, with bitcoin and ether positions accounting for the majority.
“The Federal Reserve decision this week, followed by the Bank of Japan next week, will be key in shaping rate differentials and cross-asset volatility into year-end,” said Wintermute over-the-counter trader Jasper De Maere in a post on X.
“In the absence of a decisive macro surprise, crypto is likely to remain range-bound, with volatility driven more by liquidity and positioning than fundamentals.”
Circle to Launch Private Version of USDC for Banks
Stablecoin issuer Circle is rolling out a privacy-enhanced stablecoin called USDCx on the layer 1 blockchain Aleo, aiming to give institutions “banking-level privacy” while preserving regulatory compliance.
USDCx is a USDC‑backed, dollar-pegged stablecoin issued via Circle’s xReserve infrastructure. It is designed so that value remains tied 1:1 to reserves like standard USDC, but transactions occur in a privacy-preserving environment rather than on a fully transparent public ledger.
On Aleo, USDCx transactions will be processed using zero‑knowledge cryptography, so onchain observers only see opaque data rather than clear sender, receiver, and amount information.
However, each USDCx transaction creates a “compliance record” that Circle can access if requested by law enforcement or regulators, meaning the system is not fully anonymous.
Targeted primarily at banks and legacy traditional finance firms, USDCx has already launched on Aleo’s testnet, with plans to go live on mainnet around late January.
Bits + Bips: Why TradFi Knows It Needs Crypto More Than Ever to Stay Relevant
TradFi needs crypto as competition heats up—and the incumbents are scrambling for “dance partners.”
Hosts Ram Ahluwalia, Austin Campbell, and Chris Perkins dig into why interest rates may not fall as quickly as markets hope, why oil demand could surprise to the upside, and how retail keeps buying every dip—even while consumer confidence hits new lows.
The trio also breaks down the growing collision between TradFi and crypto: whether banks can compete with blockchain-native distribution, how BlackRock’s staked ETH ETF filing could reshape the market, and how yields on Ethereum and Solana represent a brand-new financial primitive.
Plus, they examine Ripple’s controversial raise, Citadel’s push to regulate DeFi, and why major incumbents are now in a frantic race to choose their crypto “dance partners.”
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
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🧾⚖️ The OCC confirmed that U.S. national banks may act as “riskless principal” intermediaries for crypto trades — meaning they can match customer buy-and-sell orders without ever holding tokens themselves — as long as they follow existing banking rules.
🛑 A federal judge temporarily blocked Connecticut regulators from taking action against prediction-market platform Kalshi after the state accused it of unlicensed sports gambling, allowing the CFTC-regulated exchange to keep operating while the court reviews the dispute.
💳 Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain incubated by Stripe and Paradigm and valued at roughly $5 billion, launched its public testnet to demonstrate instant settlement and low-fee transactions, with partners like Mastercard and UBS testing features ahead of a 2026 mainnet launch.
🧊 Upbit, South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange, said it would now keep 99% of customer funds in offline storage after hackers drained 44.5 billion KRW from one of its internet-connected wallets.
❓ A U.S. judge issued six pointed questions ahead of Do Kwon’s sentencing — including concerns about extradition, victim testimony, and whether he could avoid serving his full term abroad — underscoring the unresolved fallout from Terraform’s $50-billion collapse.
🟧 Coinbase enabled PNC Bank’s wealthy private-banking clients to trade bitcoin directly through its platform, marking the first time a major U.S. bank offered this level of compliant custody and trading access.
📉💼 Twenty One Capital — the Bitcoin-only firm backed by Tether and led by Strike founder Jack Mallers — saw its newly listed stock finish its debut day about 20% below the SPAC it merged with, despite holding over $4 billion in BTC and pitching itself as a hybrid of a Bitcoin treasury and revenue-producing financial services company.
