Washington’s August slowdown vanished this week as regulators, the White House and crypto executives all moved at once — and the message was clear: get Clarity passed or expect regulators to act. What happened - Wednesday: President Trump hosted top crypto executives at the White House, pushing Congress to pass the bipartisan Clarity Act and urging a “fair version” of recently proposed ethics provisions from Sens. Thom Tillis (R‑NC) and Ruben Gallego (D‑AZ). The dispute over those provisions — which Trump says single him out — has become the main roadblock to bipartisan approval. - Tuesday: The SEC rolled out its first crypto‑specific rulemaking, dubbed “Regulation Crypto Assets.” - Thursday: The CFTC held the inaugural meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC) and signaled it’s ready to step in if Congress fails to pass legislation. White House meeting: optimism — and ethics CEOs from Coinbase (Brian Armstrong), Andreessen Horowitz (Chris Dixon), Ripple (Brad Garlinghouse) and Kraken (Arjun Sethi) also met privately with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick before the public session. The group focused on how the Clarity Act could drive U.S. job growth, bring crypto firms back onshore, and resolve regulatory uncertainty — while identifying the ethics language as the key sticking point. Executives left the Oval Office more optimistic about the bill’s prospects after Trump urged lawmakers to approve a “fair” version. Regulation Crypto Assets: what the SEC proposed The SEC’s new framework aims to reshape fundraising rules for crypto. Key elements: - Allow certain offerings of up to $5 million over four years, or $75 million annually, without full SEC registration. - Create a conditional safe harbor for crypto assets once an issuer’s “essential managerial efforts” have ended. - Preempt some state securities registration requirements. Notably, the SEC approved the proposal via a seriatim vote — commissioners cast votes individually outside a public meeting. The agency had abruptly canceled a scheduled public meeting last Friday, citing an “unforeseen scheduling issue.” Reporting since has tied that cancellation to pressure from the White House (which worried the SEC’s moves could complicate Clarity negotiations) and Wall Street groups that flagged legal concerns about an innovation exemption for tokenization. Semafor also reported a White House mix‑up about which SEC measure — the Regulation Crypto Assets rule or the tokenization exemption — was to be advanced. CFTC: ready to build rules if Congress stalls At the IAC’s first meeting, CFTC Chair Mike Selig framed the Clarity Act as the clearest path to ending prosecutorial uncertainty: “Passing Clarity is the surest way that we can prevent another Gary Gensler from running a rogue campaign of lawfare,” he said, referencing the former SEC chair’s aggressive enforcement record. But Selig warned that if Clarity stalls — blaming Democratic obstruction in his remarks — the CFTC will use its existing authorities to begin establishing a regulatory regime for crypto markets and has already ordered staff to explore rulemaking options. Why this matters The week made plain that Washington sees crypto as too important to leave to pause. Industry leaders pressed for legislative clarity to restore competitiveness and onshore activity; the SEC pushed forward with a rule that could reshape token fundraising; and the CFTC signaled regulators won’t wait forever if Congress is gridlocked. The outcome of the Clarity Act — and the fate of the ethics provisions holding it up — may determine whether Congress delivers a long‑sought statutory framework or whether agencies fill the void with agency‑driven rules. Source and further reading This summary is based on reporting by Eleanor Terrett in the Crypto in America newsletter. Read the full piece and subscribe to Crypto in America for more coverage. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news