Odaily reports that U.S. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins stated at the 2026 Reagan National Economic Forum that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is advancing a "New Era SEC" regulatory reform, focusing on modernizing digital asset regulation, promoting on-chain capital market development, and supporting the U.S. in becoming a "global crypto hub."
Paul Atkins criticized the SEC's previous "regulatory hostility" towards the digital asset industry, alleging that much crypto innovation was forced to relocate overseas. He stated that with the support of the Trump administration, the SEC has launched "Project Crypto" and is collaborating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to promote on-chain market infrastructure and harmonize crypto regulation. The SEC has recently clarified which digital assets are securities and which are not, and is advancing an innovative exemption mechanism for "tokenized listed securities," while studying how on-chain trading systems can fit within existing regulatory frameworks.
Additionally, Paul Atkins emphasized that the SEC will reduce "over-disclosure" and regulatory burdens, promote "Make IPOs Great Again" reforms, including lowering compliance costs for listed companies, increasing IPO flexibility, and formally proposing to repeal the climate disclosure rules introduced under the previous administration. The future of U.S. capital markets should be built on a "free market and innovation-driven" foundation, where the regulator's role is to provide clear rules and legal certainty, not to suppress technological development.
Odaily News, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Market Participants Division today issued an interpretive opinion and a "No-Action Letter" in response to an application from Coinbase Financial Markets, allowing it to offer trading services for certain digital commodity derivatives through its affiliated offshore trading platform, Deribit. CFTC staff confirmed that, based on the framework approved for Kalshi's BTCPERP contract on May 29, 2026, relevant crypto perpetual contracts can be classified as "foreign futures" as defined under Regulation 30.1.
Simultaneously, under the fulfillment of specific conditions, the CFTC's Market Participants Division stated it does not recommend enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets. This allows Coinbase to transfer customer-held digital commodities and stablecoins, used as margin, to its affiliated offshore broker-dealer to support trading positions in foreign futures and options, even if the relevant offshore broker-dealer has the right to rehypothecate these assets.
Analysts believe this statement further clarifies the classification path for crypto perpetual contracts within the U.S. regulatory framework and provides institutional space for compliant entities to access derivatives trading through offshore liquidity markets.
Odaily News “1011 Insider Whale” agent Garrett Jin pointed out in his latest market commentary that, against the backdrop of the Middle East conflict, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively “blockaded” for three months. However, the market has already become “desensitized” to this geopolitical risk, and the AI narrative is reshaping traditional risk pricing logic. As a result, AI is significantly weakening the market's sensitivity to oil prices and geopolitical shocks. Since the emergence of ceasefire signals, U.S. stocks have “decoupled” from energy shocks, with gains in chip and tech stocks offsetting the impact from the energy sector, leading the market to gradually overlook the Strait of Hormuz risk. Nevertheless, he cautioned that the AI sector faces short-term risks of overvaluation and crowded trades, and a pullback could occur at any time.
In the energy market, the earlier assessment that the Strait of Hormuz risk had not been fully priced in has proven correct. Oil prices had risen due to supply shock expectations, but peaked and then declined following the release of strategic reserves and the U.S. intervention as a “supplier of last resort.” A successful exit was achieved on April 29-30. He believes the current risk-reward ratio for oil prices is no longer attractive.
On the macro and equity market front, U.S. households' holdings of stocks as a percentage of financial assets have reached approximately 47%, surpassing the level seen during the internet bubble era. This means a market downturn would, in turn, constrain policy. The VIX volatility index triggered different policy shift thresholds around 30 and 50, reflecting a “risk-off driven policy” characteristic.
In the gold market, the recent pullback in gold is not due to the fading of a war premium but rather changes in long-term structural demand. Since 2022, central banks globally have been purchasing gold at an average annual rate of over a thousand tons, primarily for de-dollarization and hedging against sanctions risks. He defines gold as “an ultimate exit tool outside the dollar system” rather than a mere safe-haven asset.
In the crypto market, the liquidity inflection point occurred last October, with funds flowing more toward AI assets, leading to a periodic drain from the crypto market. However, he believes the market is currently in a cyclical bear phase. Rebound rallies exist, but they do not equate to the start of a new bull run. The market must wait for liquidity to restart in a new cycle. The AI era is emerging as the dominant capital narrative. Even if a bubble exists, the structural opportunities it brings represent “a rare window of opportunity for ordinary investors.” Nevertheless, market cycle discipline should not be overlooked.
Odaily Planet Daily News Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas posted on X platform, pointing out that Bitcoin's volatility and correlation are increasingly approaching the level of gold. This trend has been significantly underestimated during the current market adjustment and may be a positive signal amid recent market turbulence. Based on the 60-day historical volatility comparison data of IBIT and the gold ETF (GLD) since their launch, Bitcoin's volatility structure is gradually converging with gold, indicating that its asset characteristics may be changing.
Eric Balchunas added that despite the volatile market environment, the BlackRock Bitcoin Spot ETF (IBIT) has continued to outperform U.S. stocks since the escalation of the Iran conflict and has achieved more than double the excess returns compared to the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) since the approval of BlackRock's ETFs.
