Crypto Gains Ground in Washington Despite Failed Clarity Act
Meanwhile, the SEC and CFTC are working on new crypto rules of their own, while the industry has already scored wins with the Genius Act and looser IRS changes.
Key Takeaways
- Kristin Smith says crypto is gaining ground in Washington, even though the Clarity Act failed in the Senate.
- The SEC and CFTC are working on new crypto rules, including proposals for Regulation Crypto Assets and market structure.
- Smith expects finalized rules by summer 2028 to be harder to roll back under the Congressional Review Act.
Crypto is gaining ground in Washington, according to Kristin Smith, even though the Clarity Act did not pass the Senate. The president of the Solana Policy Institute says the sector is mainly benefiting from the fact that regulators are now writing the rules themselves. According to her, rules finalized this way will be hard to unwind before summer 2028.
Rules Shift to Regulators
The Clarity Act was meant to set federal market rules for digital assets, but it failed in the Senate. Smith does not see that as the end of the sector's political momentum. In her view, rules finalized by federal regulators are often harder to reverse than a standalone law change.
On top of that, the SEC and the CFTC have become more active over the past few months. After the Clarity Act failed, more attention shifted to oversight through the agencies themselves. On August 18, 2026, the SEC introduced a proposal for Regulation Crypto Assets, with new exemptions and a safe harbor for crypto assets. The CFTC also sent a new market structure proposal to the White House on September 17, 2026. That fits into a broader shift in which the CFTC had already sent its own rules to the White House after Congress got stuck.
What the Sector Has Already Won
Smith pointed out that the industry has already scored wins with the Genius Act, the U.S. stablecoin law. She also said a change to an IRS rule for brokers ended up favoring crypto. She told Bloomberg that the political fight over the Clarity Act actually gave regulators more room to move ahead.
The CFTC also opened a public consultation on rules for leveraged retail crypto trading on Monday. Smith estimates that writing rules at the SEC and CFTC could take 18 to 24 months. That makes timing a big deal: if the rules are finished before summer 2028, she says they would be harder to repeal under the Congressional Review Act.
Why This Matters for Europe
For European crypto watchers, this shows how quickly the U.S. approach is shifting from legislation to agency oversight. That could matter for companies active in multiple markets, since U.S. rules often spill over into international product decisions and compliance. Smith also said traditional financial firms and foreign companies may start basing decisions on finalized rules, which increases pressure for a more stable framework.
