A bullish regulatory tailwind is forming as the SEC clarifies its stance on crypto, liquid staking and tokenization — with institutional investors and IPOs responding in kind.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) historic shift in favor of digital assets is emerging as one of the most significant developments of the current Trump administration. Yet, investors may not fully grasp what it means for crypto adoption and its integration into the core of American financial services.
That’s one of the key takeaways from recent remarks by Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, who believes markets are underestimating the regulatory tailwinds now forming in the world’s largest economy.
Project Crypto, the SEC’s initiative to modernize its approach to digital assets, was unveiled last week in direct response to the White House’s Working Group on Digital Assets. The program aims to create clearer, more consistent crypto regulations going forward.
This week’s Crypto Biz covers the SEC’s evolving stance, including its latest guidance on liquid staking tokens, Hougan’s bullish commentary, continued institutional adoption of Bitcoin and the growing IPO momentum across the crypto industry.
In a continued shift toward clearer digital asset regulation, the US SEC clarified this week that certain liquid staking practices do not constitute securities offerings — and therefore do not fall under its jurisdiction.
The clarification came via a Staff Statement published on Aug. 5, in which the agency stated that “depending on the facts and circumstances, the liquid staking activities covered in the statement do not involve the offer and sale of securities.”
The SEC defined liquid staking as the process of staking cryptocurrencies via a protocol or software, receiving a liquid staking receipt token in return to represent ownership.
“Today’s staff statement on liquid staking is a significant step forward in clarifying the staff’s view about crypto asset activities that do not fall within the SEC’s jurisdiction,” said SEC Chair Paul Atkins.
Liquid staking is already a $57 billion industry across all protocols, according to DefiLlama. Liquid staking on Ethereum accounts for $51 billion of the total.
The market has yet to fully account for the SEC’s increasingly supportive stance toward the crypto industry, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. He believes investors are underestimating what could be the most bullish regulatory shift for digital assets in recent memory.
Hougan pointed to a recent speech by SEC Chair Paul Atkins at the America First Policy Institute, where Atkins championed blockchain as a foundational pillar for the future of financial markets. Hougan admitted the remarks caught him “off guard,” questioning whether the market had truly priced them in.
“The most bullish document I’ve read on crypto wasn’t written by some yahoo on Twitter. It was written by the chairman of the SEC,” Hougan said.
Atkins has recently made several pro-crypto statements, telling CNBC in July that “tokenization is an innovation,” and affirming that the era of “regulation through enforcement” is over under his leadership.
The State of Michigan Retirement System has significantly ramped up its exposure to Bitcoin, nearly tripling its holdings in ARK’s spot Bitcoin ETF — a move that further underscores the growing institutional embrace of the digital asset.
According to its latest regulatory filings, the state pension fund held 300,000 shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) as of June 30, valued at approximately $10.7 million. This marks a sharp increase from the 110,000 shares it reported owning a year earlier.
Assuming the fund has held onto its position, the value of its Bitcoin exposure has likely grown even further, bolstered by Bitcoin’s recent surge above $110,000 — and a brief spike past $123,000 in July.
Michigan isn’t the only state pension fund investing in Bitcoin ETFs. Earlier this year, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board disclosed $321 million in BTC exposure via the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Bullish, the digital asset exchange behind CoinDesk, the world’s second-largest crypto publication by viewership, is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company at up to $4.2 billion.
According to SEC filings, the company aims to raise between $568 million and $629 million through its US IPO, with strong interest reportedly secured from major institutional investors, including subsidiaries of BlackRock and ARK Investment Management.
Bullish is targeting a share price between $28 and $31, offering 20.3 million shares and bringing its projected valuation to $4.2 billion.
The company joins a growing wave of crypto firms seeking public listings this year, alongside names like BitGo, Kraken and OKX.
