After translating Paul Atkins’ “Project Crypto” plan, to be honest, I’m a bit surprised.

This time, U.S. regulators genuinely seem serious—they’re moving away from the previous crude approach of “throwing everything under securities” to a more nuanced, case-by-case classification. What’s the key breakthrough here? It’s the industry’s decade-old conundrum: can a token ever shed the “security” label? Atkins used a Florida orange grove as an analogy, making it clear—the investment contract isn’t a permanent tag. When a network becomes truly decentralized and control is sufficiently dispersed, its nature should be re-evaluated. This logic, based on “economic reality,” offers a clear path for those decentralized projects that are already operating maturely.

Even more practical is the token classification list: digital commodities, collectibles, utility tools... each category is clearly defined. This kind of certainty is a godsend for the market after a long drought. Of course, Atkins also emphasized a bottom line—“fraud is fraud, no matter how you package the asset,” and investor protections will not be compromised.

Now all that’s left is to see whether that “innovation exemption” mechanism can be implemented by the end of the year. If it really works, the U.S. market might once again become a place project teams are willing to try, and those funds that fled due to regulatory uncertainty might even consider returning.