Bitwise CIO says stalled Clarity Act didn't slow crypto rules after all
Regulation & Gov ·
Matt Hougan argues regulators moved faster on stablecoins, tokenized stocks and buybacks precisely because comprehensive market-structure legislation failed to pass.
The Clarity Act, a proposed framework meant to settle jurisdictional questions between the SEC and CFTC over digital assets, has not become law. Yet according to Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, that failure did not freeze crypto policy in place. Instead, he contends it pushed regulators and market participants toward narrower, faster-moving actions on specific issues rather than waiting for a single comprehensive bill.
Hougan's argument, reported by The Block, points to three areas where he says movement has been quicker than expected: rewards attached to stablecoins, the regulatory treatment of tokenized stocks, and rules around buybacks. In each case, the absence of a broad legislative fix appears to have left room for piecemeal SEC actions and approvals, according to his account, rather than a single unified standard.
The claim fits a pattern already visible in Bitwise's own product lineup. The firm has pushed staking-integrated ETFs, including one tied to Hyperliquid's HYPE token that accrues staking rewards rather than holding idle tokens, and it has expanded into tokenized funds such as its Crypto Carry Fund, which crossed $120 million in deposits after integrating with a decentralized lending platform. Those moves suggest Bitwise has been positioned to benefit from, and closely track, the kind of incremental regulatory openings Hougan describes.
The Clarity Act itself was intended to resolve longstanding ambiguity over which federal agency oversees which digital assets, a question that has shaped enforcement and product approvals for years. Its failure to pass left that jurisdictional split unresolved. Hougan's framing suggests regulators and market actors have not waited on that resolution, instead advancing narrower actions on stablecoin structures, tokenized equity products, and buyback mechanics.
What remains unclear is whether these faster, piecemeal wins amount to a durable substitute for comprehensive legislation, or whether unresolved jurisdictional questions will eventually force a reckoning that narrower rules cannot address. It is also not specified which particular stablecoin reward programs, tokenized stock products, or buyback rules Hougan is referencing, nor what regulatory body issued each. Whether the Clarity Act will be revived in a future legislative session, and how that might interact with the incremental rules already taking shape, is not addressed in the available material.