CLARITY’s Stall Could Speed Crypto Rulemaking—And Favor the Biggest Players

The failure of a major crypto bill in Congress may not freeze U.S. digital-asset policy. It could push the next wave of rules through federal agencies faster than lawmakers could have managed—and leave the largest exchanges with an even wider lead.

CoinDesk reports that the stalled Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has shifted the near-term burden to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Both agencies are already advancing rules that could expand regulated onchain trading, custody options and institutional access.

The SEC introduced a five-year innovation exemption on September 17 for qualifying venues trading tokenized U.S. stocks through blockchain liquidity pools. It also proposed custody changes on October 1 that would let state trust companies safeguard client crypto and permit some advisers and funds to hold assets directly.

The CFTC followed on October 5 with a public-comment process covering leveraged retail crypto transactions and a possible new registration category for crypto markets. That process starts rulemaking; it does not put final rules into effect.

The agency’s own announcement makes clear that the next stage will be fought through comments and regulatory drafting.

.@CFTC Seeks Public Comment on Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Relating to Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets: https://t.co/0RFFzG0MPp

— CFTC (@CFTC) October 5, 2026

For builders and investors, agency action offers a practical upside. Regulators can open narrow lanes for tokenized securities, custody and trading without waiting for another full legislative campaign.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong welcomed the CFTC’s move and the opening of the public-comment period.

Great to see the CFTC moving forward on rulemaking for crypto, opening up the public comment period. Thank you @ChairmanSelig for your leadership. https://t.co/1p37bcX7SP

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 5, 2026

That faster path comes with limits. Ordinary unleveraged spot trading still lacks comprehensive federal oversight beyond the CFTC’s anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority, and closing that gap was one of CLARITY’s central promises.

Agency guidance can also change with a new administration or lose in court. A statute passed by Congress would give companies a more durable foundation and settle jurisdictional questions that regulators cannot answer on their own.

The competitive effect may be just as important. Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan told CoinDesk that CLARITY’s failure preserves a regulatory moat for Coinbase, Kraken and other established firms while delaying competition that could reduce costs.

Large exchanges already have compliance teams, licenses and relationships needed to participate in a long rulemaking process. Smaller platforms and decentralized projects have less room to absorb uncertainty, legal bills and shifting registration demands.

The result is a strange tradeoff for crypto. The industry may get more experimentation sooner, especially in tokenization and regulated onchain markets, while receiving less certainty about who can compete and whether today’s rules will survive.

Congress can still return to market-structure legislation. Until it does, the SEC and CFTC are writing the next chapter—and the companies already inside the regulatory perimeter have the best seats.

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