Overview
- The Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in a 49–50 cloture vote on Tuesday, Sept. 15, leaving the bill unlikely to pass before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
- Within days of the vote the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent a draft titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets” to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review.
- The CFTC also issued a no-action position on Sept. 17 that temporarily shields certain passive software developers who connect users to registered derivatives venues from registering as introducing brokers under specified conditions.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a conditional five-year exemption for qualifying tokenized-stock trading and is advancing its Regulation Crypto Assets proposal to govern onchain fundraising and tokenization.
- Industry and markets reacted immediately: crypto prices moved lower after the vote, the sector is increasing political spending ahead of midterms, and experts warn agency rules will be faster but more vulnerable to legal challenges and reversal than a statute would be.