The SEC and CFTC Say They Will Write Crypto Rules Without Congress. What Atkins and Selig Can Actually Do for XRP and Bitcoin.

Quick Read

• Coinbase's Brian Armstrong responded "Go time" after the SEC and CFTC pledged to write crypto rules independently following the Senate's failed vote.

• JPMorgan warns agency crypto rules are far less durable than legislation since future administrations can reverse or courts can strike them down.

• XRP surged 30% while Bitcoin gained 18%, as Bitcoin's bank custody path through the OCC, Fed, and FDIC never depended on this bill.

The CLARITY Act needed 60 votes to advance in the Senate on Tuesday and got 50. A day later, the two regulators who'd been waiting on that bill said they're done waiting.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig each posted statements within about two hours of each other on Wednesday, saying their agencies will write crypto rules on their own authority.

With XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) trading near $1.31 and Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) trading around $76,000, what can Atkins and Selig do for XRP and Bitcoin?

What Can Atkins and Selig Actually Do for XRP?

The CFTC already regulates commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act, and Selig has directed staff to draft rules for a purpose-built exchange registration category with rules for leveraged retail crypto trading. That registration category matters specifically for XRP because the token has never had a dedicated, CFTC-supervised venue the way Bitcoin futures have had since 2017. A finished rule could give exchanges a formal path to register XRP spot markets under CFTC oversight instead of operating in the gray zone the CLARITY Act was supposed to close.