The United States

The United States accounts for the largest share of the global RWA market, the largest issuers, the largest platforms and the currency in which almost all stablecoins are denominated. Its regulation therefore matters to every entrepreneur, even a European one, who may one day want to welcome US investors, rely on US products or simply understand the context in which competitors operate. It has changed profoundly since 2025. After a decade of regulation by enforcement, the US administration chose to support innovation, mainly by the administrative route, in the absence of agreement in Congress on comprehensive legislation.

The authorities

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, regulates securities, their issuers, brokers, trading venues, transfer agents and investment funds. It is the central authority for RWA, since most of them are securities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC, regulates commodity and derivatives markets, and claims jurisdiction over crypto-assets that are not securities. The banking regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for national banks, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, supervise banks and now stablecoin issuers. The Treasury and its financial crimes unit, FinCEN, oversee anti-money laundering. FINRA, a self-regulatory organisation, supervises brokers. The individual states, finally, retain significant powers, notably New York State with its licensing regime for virtual currency businesses.

Qualifying the token

US law qualifies a security using the Howey test, from a 1946 Supreme Court ruling. There is an investment contract, and therefore a security, when investors contribute money to a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits derived from the efforts of others. Tokenised shares, bonds and fund units are, in any event, securities by nature.