The digital asset space is finding that out in real time, as it enters into an apparent regulatory vacuum after the Sept. 15 failure of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to advance in the Senate. But federal agencies have already stepped into that vacuum. The Securities and Exchange Commission in particular is beginning to address cryptocurrency’s next commercial challenge of not simply how digital assets enter regulated finance, but how they raise capital, mature and trade once they get there.

The SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets would establish a route for token issuers to raise money and demonstrate when the investment…