According to CoinMeta, the proposed crypto regulatory framework by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could provide a formal way for hundreds of existing tokens to exit their investment contract status. This proposal is expected to eliminate years of uncertainty regarding when token investment contracts will end. Alex Thorn, the lead researcher for this study, pointed out that the first obvious benefit could be resolving securities law issues for tokens that are already in circulation, rather than facilitating a new wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs). SEC estimates that about 475 issuers per year would submit transition reports under the investment contract safe harbor. In comparison, SEC predicts that there would be approximately 130 new issuances per year under the two new financing exemptions outlined in the proposal. Galaxy believes that this difference indicates that existing projects may have a more urgent need for an exit process, while new issuers have a lesser demand for financing options.