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SEC says it can write crypto market rules if Clarity Act stalls

The Clarity Act has passed the House and Senate Banking but has not reached a Senate floor vote, where it would need 60 votes, and would shift spot digital-commodity jurisdiction to the CFTC.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Regulation

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the agency is prepared to draft its own crypto market rules if Congress does not pass the Clarity Act, arguing that only a statute can provide long term certainty for the framework.

Atkins told CNBC the SEC is ready, willing, and able to cover the same ground, and he added that the market needs the certainty of a law so the approach does not change with each administration. He also said the SEC is providing technical assistance to support Congress.

The Clarity Act passed the House 294-134 in July last year and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 in May, but it has not yet reached a Senate floor vote, which would require 60 votes, before the chamber breaks for recess in August. Senate Democrats have raised concerns about proposed ethics provisions for officials’ crypto dealings, and the bill is currently shelved.

Atkins pointed to the SEC's already underway efforts as a backup, including Project Crypto, which produced a Regulation Crypto rulemaking package for the agency's 2026 agenda covering topics such as token registration exemptions, safe harbors for decentralizing projects, broker-dealer custody, and trading venues. The SEC and CFTC’s March guidance classifying 16 tokens as digital commodities, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, is described as administrative and could be withdrawn by a future administration without a vote in Congress.

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