As the crypto industry continues its calls for regulatory clarity, a glaring question has been whether stablecoins, typically digital assets pegged to and backed by the U.S. dollar, should be treated as securities. Now, a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to quietly end a probe into the New York stablecoin issuer Paxos suggests that, in most cases at least, the answer is no.
On July 9, Jorge Tenreiro, the acting chief of the crypto assets and cyber unit, informed Paxos that he did not intend to recommend an enforcement action, according to a letter shared with Fortune. The notice came more than a year after the SEC sent Paxos a Wells notice, or a letter signaling an impending enforcement action, over the dollar-backed BUSD stablecoin that Paxos issued in partnership with Binance.
