Digital Collectables

Who are the Regulators

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Here’s a list of the main regulatory agencies

The main regulatory agencies that currently have oversight (or are asserting oversight) in the crypto and NFT space — especially relevant to projects operating in or dealing with U.S. markets (since the U.S. is where a lot of global crypto regulation debates are happening):

United States

1. SEC — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

  • Oversees securities markets
  • Claims that many tokens (especially ICOs) may be unregistered securities
  • Brings enforcement actions on what it views as illegal token offerings or unregistered exchanges
  • Often most relevant for ICOs, staking programs, NFTs that promise financial return

2. CFTC — Commodity Futures Trading Commission

  • Regulates commodity markets and derivatives
  • Classifies Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities
  • May regulate futures or leveraged crypto trading

3. FinCEN — Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (U.S. Treasury)

  • Focuses on anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance
  • Regulates money service businesses (MSBs), exchanges, and wallets
  • Seeks to apply AML requirements to crypto businesses

4. IRS — Internal Revenue Service

  • Enforces tax reporting and compliance for crypto gains and transactions
  • Requires reporting of crypto income and capital gains
  • Applies tax treatment to NFTs as property or collectibles (depending on use case)

5. OFAC — Office of Foreign Assets Control (U.S. Treasury)

  • Enforces sanctions compliance
  • Has blacklisted some blockchain addresses linked to criminal activity
  • Projects need to avoid dealings with sanctioned parties

International (select examples)

6. ESMA — European Securities and Markets Authority

  • European Union equivalent of the SEC
  • Part of the EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulatory framework, which is being phased in

7. FCA — UK Financial Conduct Authority

  • Regulates crypto promotions and certain activities in the UK
  • Requires registration of crypto firms doing business in the UK

8. FATF — Financial Action Task Force (global)

  • Sets international standards for anti-money laundering in crypto
  • Issues guidelines (the “Travel Rule”) for exchanges to share data about transactions

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