SEC, CFTC Rulemaking Will Be 'Aggressive and Swift' After CLARITY Act Failure, Bernstein Says

Bernstein told clients Wednesday that the SEC and CFTC will move fast to fill the regulatory void left behind by the CLARITY Act failing its procedural vote Tuesday.

What Bernstein Is Expecting

In a note cited by The Block, Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani argued that Tuesday’s 49-50 procedural vote failure shifts the entire crypto regulatory agenda to the SEC and CFTC.

The analysts expect both agencies to pursue specific rulemaking that is “aggressive and swift” to make up for time spent on failed legislative negotiations.

Their priority list for incoming rules covers a wide range of issues:

• Native crypto token classification — clearing up which tokens are securities vs. commodities
• DeFi and self-custody protections — formal rules for decentralized finance infrastructure
• Equity tokenization — governance framework for tokenized stocks
• Real-world asset perpetual futures — faster approval process expected
• Single-stock perpetuals — inter-agency coordination between SEC and CFTC
• Federal sports event contracts — rules around their classification as swaps

What the Failure Means for Stablecoin Rewards

Bernstein noted that leaves the stablecoin rewards framework exactly where it was.

The bill would have banned rewards on idle stablecoin balances and tied payouts to customer activity instead.