US Regulators Push Own Crypto Rules After Congress Stalls

When lawmakers can't agree, other government agencies sometimes step in. That's exactly what's happening with cryptocurrency in the United States right now.

The CLARITY Act — a proposed law meant to set clear rules for the crypto industry — recently failed to pass in the Senate (one of the two houses of the U.S. Congress that make laws). Instead of waiting, two powerful regulators have decided to act on their own.

Who are these regulators?

• The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission): a U.S. agency that oversees markets for commodities and derivatives — financial products whose value comes from something else, like oil, gold, or crypto.
• The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission): the U.S. agency that regulates stocks and other investments to protect investors.

What the CFTC just did:

• Sent a new crypto rules proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget (the office that reviews new government rules).
• The details are still secret — we don't know which cryptocurrencies it covers or what exchanges would need to do.
• After review, it must go through votes and public comment before becoming official.

The CFTC also released a "no-action letter" — basically a promise not to punish certain software companies (like some crypto wallet apps) for connecting users to trading markets, as long as they follow rules. These apps cannot hold your money or decide trades for you.

What the SEC just did:

• Introduced a five-year "innovation exemption." This lets qualifying platforms trade tokenized stocks (digital versions of company shares recorded on a blockchain) without registering as a traditional stock exchange.

Both agencies say they'll keep working together to give the crypto industry clearer rules using the powers they already have. CFTC chair Mike Selig said the agency is "locked in and ready to ship its rules."

The bottom line: Even though Congress hasn't passed a new crypto law, U.S. regulators are moving forward on their own. This could bring the clearer rules the crypto industry has long wanted — but the exact details are still unknown.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/18/cftc-sends-crypto-rules-to-white-house-to-review-as-congress-stalls-on-clarity-act