Digital commodities: what they are and who regulates them

In 2026 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a joint interpretive release that named bitcoin, Ether and 14 other tokens as digital commodities and outlined how different digital assets fit under federal oversight.

The agencies defined a digital commodity as an onchain asset whose price reflects open-market supply and demand rather than corporate cash flows, dividends or managerial efforts. The release described these assets as generally transferable, fungible units that operate on decentralized networks without a central issuer, and compared their market behavior to traditional commodities such as gold or oil rather than to corporate stock.

The release included a five-category taxonomy and a non-exhaustive list of tokens it considers digital commodities. In addition to bitcoin and Ether, the list cited Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, Avalanche, Polkadot, Hedera, Stellar, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Tezos, Bitcoin Cash and Aptos. The CFTC had previously classified bitcoin as a commodity in 2015; the 2026 joint release marked formal alignment by the SEC on bitcoin and Ether.

The legal distinction affects which federal agency has primary authority. The CFTC enforces commodity-derivatives rules and polices fraud and manipulation in its jurisdiction, while the SEC enforces securities laws that require registration, disclosures and reporting for investments that meet the legal test for a security. The Howey test asks whether investors expected a profit from the efforts of others; the joint release said a token may trade as a commodity once promises of profit tied to its creators are no longer central to holders’ expectations.

A pending congressional bill often called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, would create a statutory definition of “digital commodity.” The proposal would give the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over spot trading of qualifying assets and require exchanges and brokers that handle digital commodities to register with the agency.

Market participants and institutional investors respond to classification. A commodity designation generally carries lighter disclosure obligations than a security and can affect where tokens may be listed and how firms comply. The designation has helped enable products such as spot exchange-traded funds, which provide new access for retail and institutional investors and can increase liquidity for listed tokens.

Major jurisdictions apply different frameworks. The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation groups digital assets into defined categories and sets a single licensing regime for service providers across member states. The United Kingdom plans to extend its Financial Services and Markets Act to bring digital asset businesses under the Financial Conduct Authority’s oversight when new rules take effect in 2027. Singapore classifies major unbacked cryptocurrencies as digital payment tokens under its Payment Services Act and requires service providers to hold licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Legal risk remains when issuers or sellers offer tokens. A token that functions as a commodity on secondary markets can be sold in a manner that resembles a securities offering if promoters combine it with forward-looking promises, active management or marketing that creates an expectation of profit based on others’ efforts. Courts and regulators continue to evaluate such transactions on a case-by-case basis.

The joint SEC-CFTC interpretive release provided detailed U.S. guidance on how large, decentralized tokens will be treated, while pending legislation and different international regimes mean regulatory outcomes vary by jurisdiction and by how networks are structured.