SEC and CFTC Signal Crypto Rulemaking Push After Clarity Act Setback
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September 16, 2026 3:11 pm
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The two federal agencies at the center of U.S. crypto oversight say they are prepared to move ahead with rulemaking after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins each said Wednesday that existing law gives their agencies room to act. Their statements shift the immediate focus from Congress to the slower, more limited process of agency rulemaking.
Decrypt reported that Selig described the CFTC as ready to move forward with rules for digital-asset markets, while Atkins said the SEC would act within its statutory authority regardless of whether Congress passes a bill. The comments followed a 49-50 procedural vote in the Senate, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation.
The Clarity Act was designed to establish a federal market-structure framework and clarify where CFTC oversight ends and SEC jurisdiction begins. Its failure to clear the procedural hurdle does not enact a competing framework; it leaves the agencies working with powers already granted under existing commodities and securities laws.
Selig’s response emphasized regulatory clarity, legal certainty and consumer protection. Atkins thanked lawmakers and market participants who worked on the bill, then said the SEC would proceed within the authority it currently has.
— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) September 16, 2026
What the agencies can do now
The SEC and CFTC can propose rules, issue guidance and interpret the statutes they administer. Those tools can affect registration, trading venues, disclosures, custody and the treatment of particular products, but they cannot reproduce every provision Congress could place into law.
The two agencies already have a formal coordination structure. A March memorandum of understanding announced by the CFTC created a Joint Harmonization Initiative and identified a fit-for-purpose crypto framework as one of its priorities.
That agreement matters because digital assets often raise questions that touch both securities and commodities regulation. Coordinated rulemaking can reduce contradictory instructions, establish a common timetable and give market participants one place to identify where the agencies agree or still differ.
It does not eliminate jurisdictional limits. Each commission must still ground its action in existing law, follow required notice-and-comment procedures when adopting rules, respond to public input and defend the final result if it is challenged in court.
My thanks go to everyone who put so much effort into the CLARITY Act— across the Administration, Congress, investors, and innovators. Our collective conviction that America must continue to lead is indispensable.
I have been unequivocal: with or without legislation, we will act…
— Paul Atkins (@SECPaulSAtkins) September 16, 2026
Why legislation still matters
Axios reported that the procedural motion failed 49-50 after supporters could not assemble the 60 votes required to advance it. The bill sought durable market-structure rules for how digital assets are issued, traded and sold, while the Senate dispute included questions about ethics restrictions and the division of regulatory authority.
Agency action can provide practical direction sooner, but it is generally easier for a future commission to revise than a statute passed by Congress. Rules can also be narrowed or vacated if a court concludes that an agency exceeded the authority Congress gave it or failed to follow the required process.
That difference is now central for exchanges, token issuers, investors and developers. The next signal will not be another statement of intent; it will be the text, scope and timetable of actual SEC and CFTC proposals.
For the crypto market, the immediate story is therefore neither that federal oversight stopped nor that the Clarity Act’s framework has arrived through another route. Congress stalled, and the regulators say they will test how much clarity they can deliver under the law already on the books.
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