SEC Tightens Crypto Buyback Guidance to Protocols With No Central Party Control

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revised its guidance on crypto buybacks, narrowing the scope of permissible transactions to protocols with no central party.

The change was made quietly by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance on September 28, three days after publishing its first-ever FAQ on crypto asset classification.

Under the revised guidance, an issuer's announcement of a non-security crypto asset buyback program would not constitute a representation or promise to undertake essential managerial efforts if the crypto system is functional and has no central party.

This means that protocols where all treasury operations are governed by on-chain code, with no human actor holding override authority, are now considered permissible.

However, protocols where a foundation or development team makes discretionary decisions about timing, amounts, or implementation face a harder question, and the revised guidance does not help pre-launch projects.