SEC and CFTC to push ahead on crypto rules without Congress
Regulation & Gov ·
Both agencies say they will rely on existing statutory authority to set digital-asset policy after a Senate procedural vote on the CLARITY Act failed to advance.
Leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have indicated they do not intend to wait on lawmakers to settle the boundaries of crypto oversight, according to The Block. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has signaled that regulatory clarity for the industry will be delivered whether or not Congress ultimately passes the bill, per the same reporting. The stance amounts to the two regulators effectively bypassing a legislative process that has stalled, leaning instead on powers they already hold.
The CFTC's jurisdiction stems from its long-standing mandate over derivatives markets — futures, options, and swaps tied to commodities, a category that has been read to include bitcoin and ether. Beyond that product-specific authority, Congress has also granted the agency anti-fraud and anti-manipulation power over spot commodity markets in certain situations, letting it act even when no CFTC-regulated derivative is involved, as detailed in an explainer on the agency's mandate. That dual authority is part of what gives the CFTC room to move on crypto oversight without new legislation.
The failure of the Senate vote does not resolve the underlying jurisdictional overlap between the SEC and CFTC that the CLARITY Act was meant to address. Commentary from outside the agencies has already flagged that limitation: Coinbase's chief executive and analysts at Bernstein have cautioned that the bill, even if eventually passed, would not by itself settle U.S. crypto regulation, with the SEC and CFTC expected to keep issuing parallel rules regardless. That caution is echoed in coverage from Decrypt, which notes both agencies are doubling down on independent rulemaking rather than deferring to Congress.
The immediate practical effect on exchanges, custodians, and other market participants is not yet defined, since no formal rule text or timeline has been disclosed by either agency. Five distinct sources are tracking this development, all pointing to the same underlying shift: the SEC and CFTC treating the stalled Clarity Act as a reason to accelerate, not pause, their own regulatory efforts. What remains unresolved is how far each agency can stretch its existing authority before running into legal challenges, and whether Congress will revisit the legislation or leave the current jurisdictional split for the regulators themselves to sort out through rulemaking.