Clarity Act Impasse Leaves Regulators Setting Crypto Policy

Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the Solana Policy Institute, told Reuters that the agencies are ready to act because Congress has been unwilling or unable to do so.

The industry fears these rules could be reversed by a future administration. President Donald Trump's crypto-friendly White House rolled back several policies introduced under former President Joe Biden. Some executives worry a future administration could return to the enforcement-heavy approach of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

Josh Riezman, chief legal and strategy officer at trading firm GSR, said new policies from the SEC and CFTC would help the sector in the short term. The next administration could be "Gensler 2.0," he added.

The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the Clarity Act on Sept. 15. That vote could signal whether the bill has a future. The legislation faces an uphill fight because of the shortened schedule before the November midterms and opposition from Democrats. They are calling for ethics provisions related to Trump's involvement in the crypto sector.