US Regulators Move to Write Crypto Rules Themselves After the Senate Leaves the Market-Structure Bill Unfinished

With the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate, United States agencies have said they will advance crypto policy without new legislation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) holds an open meeting on August 14 to consider proposing a tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets, and is preparing a separate exemption covering trading in tokenized securities.

The offering proposal, as described ahead of the vote, would create a path for token raises of up to $75 million. Friday's vote decides only whether the Commission issues a proposal. A comment period, economic analysis and a final vote would follow, a process that has typically taken major SEC rules twelve to eighteen months. Eligibility and resale conditions have not been published, and those details will determine whether the regime is usable or merely available.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has said it is prepared to move on crypto rules even if Congress does not act. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which charters national banks, has said digital-asset firms should have a route to national bank charters, extending an approach that already produced preliminary trust charters for Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity's digital-assets arm in December. Senator Elizabeth Warren has written to Comptroller Jonathan Gould arguing those firms do not qualify under the National Bank Act.

The White House says the legislative route is not closed. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said the administration remains fully committed to passing the CLARITY Act in September. If the bill returns to committee work, CoinDesk notes that three Democratic women on the relevant committees would gain leverage, and all three have treated digital assets with skepticism.

Rules made by agencies can be unmade by agencies. A statute binds the next administration. That difference is what Congress did not deliver.