Chainlink, Cardano and 4 others ask SEC to codify digital commodities

Six blockchain organisations, including Chainlink Labs and the Cardano Foundation, have asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to formally classify "digital commodities" as non-securities inside its proposed crypto rulebook, rather than leaving the distinction in guidance. The joint letter is dated 20 October, the last day of the public comment period, Cointelegraph reported.

Who signed

The co-signers are Chainlink Labs, the Cardano Foundation, Hedera, Aptos Labs, Ava Labs and the Stellar Development Foundation — the teams associated with LINK, ADA, HBAR, APT, AVAX and XLM. Crypto Briefing notes that those six tokens were referenced in a footnote of SEC guidance in March 2026 that connected them to futures regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

What they are asking for

• Put the definition in the rule itself. The SEC's current interpretation already treats digital commodities as a separate category, the groups say, but the proposed Regulation Crypto Assets does not reflect that explicitly. Guidance can be revised or withdrawn far more easily than rule text.
• Clarify secondary markets. They want clearer answers on how securities law applies when tokens change hands after their initial sale, for example on exchanges.
• Cover staking and network activity. The letter asks how staking and other activities tied to decentralised networks would be treated.

Chainlink's head of policy, Taylor Barr, framed the push as building durable foundations into US law so the country stays attractive for builders.

Why it matters

Whether a token is a security or a commodity decides who regulates it and how it can be listed and marketed in the US. A definition sitting in operative rule text is much harder for a future SEC to reverse. Listing decisions hinge on it too: wallet-backup firm Vault12 has told the SEC that its proposed token safe harbor still leaves exchanges too exposed to list older coins, as we reported in Vault12's comment on the safe harbor.

What happens next

The SEC proposed the framework in August and received roughly 140 comment letters over 60 days, with competing views on exemptions for crypto offerings and a conditional safe harbor for some tokens. Ripple filed its own letter on the same day. The agency now has to weigh the feedback before any final rule; comment letters are requests, not outcomes.

For the basics behind these networks, see our guides to proof of work vs proof of stake and centralized vs decentralized exchanges.