For years the industry argued that only Congress could settle how crypto is regulated in the US. With the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate, that job has fallen to the SEC and CFTC instead. CoinDesk asked executives and lawyers what that means, and the answers were more mixed than you might expect.
đ The news
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate. Since then, regulators have kept moving on their own:
âą September 17: the SEC's five-year Innovation Exemption, letting qualifying venues trade tokenized US stocks through blockchain liquidity pools
âą October 1: an SEC proposal letting state trust companies hold client crypto
âą October 5: a CFTC request for feedback on leveraged retail crypto trading and a new registration category
đ Why it matters
Agency rules can arrive faster than laws, but they can also be rewritten by the next set of commissioners. William & Mary law professor Lev Breydo told CoinDesk that only Congress can deliver a durable framework.
Others see an upside. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan argued agency action is more favorable in the short term, and expects more token buybacks. He also said the delay may shield incumbents like Coinbase and Kraken from new competition.
đ The numbers
âą SEC Innovation Exemption length: five years
âą Months of formal rulemaking ahead: comment periods have only just opened on the CFTC side
âą Jim Petrila of Dromos Labs suggested onchain liquidity could make reversal impractical within about two years
âïž Bull vs bear case
Bull case: faster clarity on custody, tokenization and DeFi lets builders ship now, and networks like $SOL that host tokenized assets benefit from more activity.
Bear case: ordinary unleveraged spot trading still has no full federal framework, and staff guidance is not binding rule.
đ What to watch next
âą Final versions of the SEC custody and offering rules
âą Comments filed on the CFTC's October 5 proposal
âą Whether Congress revives market structure after the midterms
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đĄ My take: Agency action buys the industry time, not certainty. I would treat any rule that is not written into law as something that can change with the next administration. That is my view, not a prediction.
đŹ Would you rather have fast rules from regulators or slow rules from Congress?
#Regulation #Crypto