SEC and CFTC plans to write crypto rules without Congress - but they can’t make them permanent

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said on Aug. 4 that the agency has crypto rule proposals ready and plans to finalize them before the current administration ends, regardless of whether Congress passes the CLARITY Act.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has separately said the SEC can keep pursuing meaningful crypto rulemaking even if Congress fails to act.

The Senate left CLARITY untouched before its August recess, and Majority Leader John Thune has filed cloture on a motion to proceed, setting up a procedural vote around Sept. 15 that would require 60 votes to advance the bill.

The House already passed its own version of CLARITY, 294-134, last July.

What regulators are building without Congress

SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveiled the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets framework in March and said only Congress can ensure regulation in this area is future-proofed, describing agency rulemaking as merely a head start on legislation.

He made the same point in November 2025, saying there is no stronger tool for future-proofing crypto regulation than statutory language from Congress.

The SEC and CFTC already issued a joint interpretation in March stating that most crypto assets are not themselves securities, along with a token taxonomy covering staking, mining, wrapping, and airdrops.