Officials at the Center for American Progress (CAP) have released a new report offering recommendations to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding efforts to strengthen protection for digital asset exchanges.

The analysis notes that digital assets meet the criteria to be considered security, thereby allowing the SEC to exercise authority over how assets are issued, bought and sold.

“Without oversight and transparency in the cryptocurrency markets, investors are significantly affected and many lose their savings,” said Todd Phillips, author of the report and director of financial regulation and corporate governance at CAP. “Fortunately, regulators already have the legal authority to address many of the risks that digital assets pose to investors, the environment, and the economy as a whole.”

Phillips said the SEC and all other financial regulators should use their existing authority to ensure digital asset markets are aligned with environmental, social and governance goals.

The recommendations of the CAP report, according to the organization, include disclosure by the SEC of the environmental impact of blockchains or the imposition of regulations to mitigate the impacts; require digital asset exchanges to use trust companies to remove hashing from the blockchain; require domestic brokers trading in digital assets to comply with anti-money laundering laws and securities tax reporting; and enforcement of existing investor protection laws.