Hyperliquid Policy Center Asks SEC for Five Regulation Crypto Assets Changes
By Crypto Wire
October 19, 2026
The Hyperliquid Policy Center filed a public comment on October 19, 2026 asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt proposed Regulation Crypto Assets with five refinements — one day before the agency’s October 20 comment deadline on File No. S7-2026-27. The letter is signed by HPC chief executive Jake Chervinsky and senior counsel Brad Bourque, appears on the SEC’s public comment list, and is posted as a PDF on hyperliquidpolicy.org. Desk coverage from crypto.news and CryptoBriefing tracks the same filing. This is a new federal chapter on the US Policy Watch thread after LN 10593 flagged the Oct. 20 close.
HPC says it “generally support[s] the Proposal and urge[s] its prompt adoption,” then argues several drafted features will not deliver the certainty the Commission intends. The August package would create a startup exemption for offerings up to $5 million over four years (Rule 200), a fundraising exemption up to $75 million per twelve-month period (Rule 300), a conditional investment-contract safe harbor (Rule 400), and a qualified-purchaser preemption of certain state registration rules (Rule 500). None of those exemptions is final until the SEC adopts a rule — a comment letter is advocacy, not agency action.
The five asks, in plain English: (1) codify airdrop treatment so free distributions without tangible consideration stay outside the investment-of-money prong, and treat wallet connect / sanctions screening as delivery admin rather than payment; (2) address secondary trading and intermediary status so tokens distributed under the exemptions can trade outside a registrant framework; (3) make the safe harbor usable without a tacit admission that an investment contract previously existed, and extend protection while essential managerial efforts are still ongoing; (4) distinguish programmatic buybacks under published chain rules from discretionary repurchases by a central party, incorporating staff buyback guidance; and (5) make federal preemption durable after safe-harbor exit so state registration questions do not snap back.
For collectors and marketplace users, the practical stakes sit in the airdrop and secondary-trading asks. If the Commission writes free-claim treatment into final text, NFT and token drop desks get a clearer line between a no-consideration claim and a paid investment contract. If secondary-market status stays fuzzy, the usefulness of the $5M / $75M offering exemptions shrinks for anyone who needs a working aftermarket. HPC also flags that automated fee-to-buyback mechanics should not be collapsed into the same analysis as discretionary treasury repurchases — a distinction that matters for any protocol with onchain repurchase rules, not only Hyperliquid.
Read the letter as a last-day docket print, not a rule change. The SEC has adopted none of the five refinements. Tomorrow’s comment close ends the primary public-feedback window; next receipts are a revised proposal, an adopting release, or silence. Until one of those lands, treat “Reg Crypto Assets is live” claims as false.
What changes for bids: Watch whether the Oct. 20 close is followed by an SEC staff summary or revised text that actually codifies airdrop / secondary-trading language — that is the next filter for whether free claims and DEX-style aftermarkets get clearer U.S. rails or stay case-by-case.
Bottom line: Hyperliquid Policy Center’s October 19 comment asks the SEC to adopt Regulation Crypto Assets with five refinements on airdrops, secondary trading, safe harbor, buybacks, and durable preemption — with the public window closing October 20 and no final rule yet.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or trading advice. The NFT market is highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions related to digital assets. The cover image for this article may have been created using artificial intelligence (AI).
