Nasdaq Unveils Proposal for Clear Crypto Asset Classification to SEC

To cut through the current market confusion Nasdaq has proposed a new framework for categorizing digital assets that would help provide much-needed clarity to the regulatory landscape. The detailed proposal was recently sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new crypto task force. To help with this, it proposes four separate classifications for digital assets. Our Capital Markets Innovation and Technology framework aims to identify which of these agencies should have jurisdiction over the regulation of these assets.

The proposal provides a framework for four types of digital assets. These buckets are financial securities, digital asset investment contracts, digital asset commodities, and other digital assets. That classification will help reduce regulatory surprise and complexity by putting the right regulatory rules on the right digital asset.

Financial instruments would be things like tokens pegged to or representing ownership in a bundle of traditional assets ranging from stocks to bonds and more like ETFs. Digital asset investment contracts will become tokenized investment contracts. These contracts would pass the securities test specified in a slimmed-down iteration of the Supreme Court’s Howey test. Digital asset commodities would get to the U.S. definition of a commodity. The other digital assets category includes any assets that would be classified outside of the other three categories. These assets will not be regulated as securities or commodities.

digital assets that constitute financial securities must trade as they do today. - John Zecca

John Zecca, Nasdaq’s chief regulatory executive, signed the thick three-attachment, 23-page proposal. It rolled off the press on April 25 th, 2025. Specifically, it was in response to an invitation that has been extended by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. The SEC would work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee commodities.

Nasdaq operates a major U.S. stock exchange and a crypto index. The company’s thoughtful proposal is a major step in taking responsibility as an industry leader to help craft the future of digital asset regulation. This categorization seeks to lay out a straightforward framework in which market participants and regulators, too, can benefit from.