SEC Staff Clarifies Who Controls a Crypto Network

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance on Nov. 2 added questions 1.4 through 1.6 to its crypto asset FAQ, extending a page first published Sept. 25. The additions clarify the control test in the SEC’s March 17 interpretation, which asks whether a central party with operational, economic or voting control stands behind a crypto system. The new answers address when governance participants count as a group, what oversight of participation means, and how a functional system differs from a decentralized one. The Division staff’s answers reflect its views, carry no legal force, and were neither approved nor disapproved by the Commission.