How Crypto Stopped Waiting for Congress and Learned to Love the Regulators
Crypto’s Washington strategy has shifted from Congress to regulators after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act, a major market-structure bill, in a 49-50 vote. Negotiations collapsed over ethics issues tied to President Donald Trump’s crypto ties, and supporters now see the bill as effectively dead this year. Federal agencies quickly filled the gap. The SEC launched an “innovation exemption” that could let qualifying venues trade tokenized U.S. stocks on-chain without registering as national securities exchanges. The CFTC issued a no-action position easing access for passive software providers, including wallet apps, to offer regulated derivatives, and sent broader crypto rulemaking to the White House. The Federal Reserve also proposed stablecoin rules requiring full reserve backing and capital against operational risks, part of the GENIUS Act rollout. The industry is accepting rulemaking by agencies as the practical path forward, even though it is slower, easier to challenge in court, and easier for future administrations to reverse.
