Congress Just Failed Crypto. That Might Be Good News

Last month, I told you that Washington was getting closer to giving the crypto industry something it has wanted for years.

Clear rules.

But recently that effort hit a wall when the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, the landmark crypto bill that was supposed to finally establish who regulates digital assets in America and how.

And with the midterm elections rapidly approaching, the bill may now be dead for the year.

This might sound like terrible news for crypto. But I couldn’t be more optimistic.

Because less than 48 hours after the Senate vote, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it was moving forward without Congress.

And what the SEC is doing could ultimately matter a lot more than one stalled piece of legislation.

Clarity Without CLARITY

The CLARITY Act was supposed to solve one of crypto’s biggest problems in the U.S.

Crypto companies haven’t always known whether a digital asset should be treated as a security, a commodity or something else entirely.

CLARITY was designed to draw clearer lines between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), giving crypto companies a better idea of which rules they need to follow.

In August, it looked like Congress might actually get there.