Clarity Act Impasse Leaves Regulators Setting Crypto Policy

With crypto legislation stalled, U.S. regulators are moving in to set policies of their own.

But as Reuters reported Tuesday (Aug. 18), this has led to concerns in the digital asset industry that these rules could be revoked by future administrations.

While cryptocurrency companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying for legislation that will provide them with more stable legal status, time is running out for lawmakers to agree to a deal before the new Congress begins in 2027.

As Reuters notes, that’s left regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to fill the void.

The SEC is working on a rule that would exempt some token offerings from securities regulations, while the CFTC is scheduled to discuss crypto regulation at an upcoming industry gathering, the report added.

“The agencies … seemingly are ready to act, given that Congress has been unwilling or unable to do so,” Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the Solana Policy Institute, told Reuters.

If passed, the Clarity Act would define which tokens are considered securities and which ones are commodities, and which regulators have authority over the industry.