SEC plans single licence ‘super-app’ regime to lure cryptos

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is developing a “super-app” licence that combines securities registrations under a single regime. The initiative is part of “Project Crypto”, the SEC’s plan to attract digital assets firms currently operating outside the US.

Speaking at the America First Policy Institute on July 31, SEC chair Paul Atkins explained: “Securities intermediaries should be able to offer a broad range of products and services under one roof with a single licence.

“[For example] a broker-dealer with an alternative trading system should be able to offer trading in non-security crypto assets alongside crypto asset securities, traditional securities, and other services, like crypto asset staking and lending, without requiring 50-plus state licences or multiple federal licences.”

The SEC chair claimed that the super-app licence would solve the problem of “duplicated frameworks”, where SEC registrants are “unnecessarily” subject to multiple regulators or regulatory regimes, such as broker-dealer and clearing agency registration. He added that the regulator is currently working on guidance and proposals for the super-app regime.

In a statement, law firm Wilmer Hale said: “With the launch of ‘Project Cryptoʼ the [SEC] is moving toward a proactive regulatory framework aimed at making the US a global leader in blockchain finance. While guidance, rulemaking and the ‘innovation exemptionʼ are still under way, a federal pathway for the blockchain industry is becoming apparent.”

Dose of regulation

Atkins said Project Crypto reflects findings from the President’s Working Group (PWG) report on stablecoins, which explained how digital assets could “revolutionise” financial and economic governance in the US. The report also made recommendations to multiple federal-level agencies — including that the SEC creates a conditional “innovation exemption” under the Exchange Act to allow registrants to pursue innovative new business models.

Project Crypto is the SECʼs response to the PWG, and intends to bring a “dose of regulation” necessary to protect investors, while enabling entrepreneurs and businesses to flourish, generating the “forces of venue and product competition” said Atkins.

China’s super regulator

China’s WeChat and Alipay are among the original financial super-apps, since they integrate cross-sector services such as payments, investments and insurance. They are regulated by the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) — the country’s “super” financial regulator — which centralises oversight of banking, insurance and financial holding firms, but excludes securities instruments.

“Except for the securities industry, all financial sectors are regulated by the central government under the auspices of the NFRA,” AI researcher Klemens Katterbauer explained in a financial law review published in April.

“Big international banks and financial institutions are accustomed to the new regulatory framework, which is managed by a single, multi-sector super-regulator. The idea is to have a single regulator overseeing authorisation, prudential conduct, corporate governance and other regulatory issues across different sectors.”

However, the NFRA does not have a super-app licence but requires separate licences for each service.

Both mobile apps and “mini-apps” are required to complete a formal registration process with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), complying with the internet content provider (ICP) licensing regime, according to China Briefing, which is published by consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates.

China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) includes anti-money laundering (AML) and cybersecurity requirements, while the NFRA has also published several sector-specific policies, such as guidelines on risk management for banks and insurance firms.

Restricted in the EU

In the EU, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) sets out the criteria that designates a large online platform as a “gatekeeper” and ensure it operates “fairly and allows competition”. The legislation is seen as a mechanism to block the emergence of super-apps in the EU, according to assistant professor Simonetta Vezzoso in a 2024 paper published in the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement.

The DMA can restrict the monopolisation of user data, limit third-party access and prevent users from being locked into a closed ecosystem. A key provision includes a ban on self-preferencing — ensuring that super-apps cannot rank their own services more favourably than those offered by third parties.

Vezzoso explained: “This is obviously a very forward-looking perspective, where super-apps have practically absorbed other so far standalone platform services.”

However, she also noted: “While the DMA can already address many of the contestability and fairness concerns arising from this type of platform integration, it must in turn be prepared to adapt to new changes as necessary, and cultivate a fruitful complementarity with traditional antitrust law.”