NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Securities and Exchange Commission is close to proposing a "regulation crypto" fleshing out its approach to overseeing the crypto industry and drawing lines between transactions that might be securities and where they aren't, the agency's head said Monday.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the commission's new reg crypto is in front of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, meaning it's one step away from being published. This rulemaking is focused on the Securities Act of 1933 and will address fundraising and startup exemptions, among other issues, he said Monday at an event hosted by Vanderbilt University and the Blockchain Association.

He told CoinDesk after his question-and-answer session that the SEC also intends to put out its long-awaited innovation exemption soon.

"We'd love to have reactions and everything else," he said. "It's not a rule as such but obviously we need to know how it's functioning and if people have problems with it or not."

One aspect to this exemption, he said, is that it wouldn't disadvantage incumbents and focus solely on startups.

"We want people really to experiment within [that] framework," he said.

Midterm watch

At multiple points during his talk, Atkins pointed to Congress's role, saying that his agency's rulemaking process was well underway despite whatever Congress may do.

"I think we have enough of a runway now, even notwithstanding what may happen in the midterms — although I really still want a friendly Congress obviously — they can throw tacks on the road in front of our tires but they're not going to really slow us down."

Atkins also said the audience needed "to be engaged in this upcoming election," pointing to Senator Bernie Moreno as an example.

"To have Congress really veer off track is not going to any of us any good, and it's going to put a lot more questions into the future because people then just have 'oh gosh, maybe this is again a passing phase,'" he said. "We've got to make sure that your friends are in Congress. I think you saw how that really paid benefits in the last election."