The cryptocurrency industry has shifted its strategy from lobbying Congress for a market-structure law to engaging directly with federal regulators. This change follows the Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act, which fell short of the required 60 votes in a 49-50 procedural decision.
Following the bill's collapse, the SEC introduced an innovation exemption allowing venues to trade tokenized U.S. stocks on-chain without national exchange registration. Chairman Paul Atkins stated this move aims to establish crypto policy through agency authority.
The CFTC has issued a no-action position permitting passive software providers and crypto wallets to offer access to regulated derivatives without registering as brokers. Additionally, the agency submitted a broad crypto-markets rulemaking proposal to the White House for review.
The Federal Reserve proposed rules requiring stablecoin issuers to maintain full backing with liquid assets and hold capital against operational risks. This initiative aligns with the GENIUS Act signed in 2025, while the OCC works to finalize its own stablecoin regulations by November.
