Washington moved on multiple crypto fronts this week: Trump pressed Congress to pass the Clarity Act, the CFTC warned it will write its own rules if the bill stalls, and the SEC proposed a new crypto fundraising framework. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says clarity is coming by mid-September, either through a Senate vote or new agency rules.
President Trump hosted crypto industry executives at the White House on Wednesday and urged Congress to pass a "fair version" of the Clarity Act when lawmakers return next month. The reference is to ethics provisions proposed by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), which Trump has argued unfairly single him out.
The dispute over those provisions has become the main obstacle to bipartisan agreement on the bill. Ahead of Trump's public remarks, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, a16z Managing Partner Chris Dixon, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi met privately with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the remaining hurdles.
CFTC prepares to act without Congress
At the CFTC's inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, Chairman Mike Selig framed the Clarity Act as protection against another regulator running enforcement campaigns like Gary Gensler did, referring to the former SEC chief under whose leadership the agency brought 125 crypto-related enforcement actions. According to Decrypt: "the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime" for crypto asset markets if Congress fails to act, Selig said.
Selig has already directed agency staff to begin exploring such rules. He also said the plan could let both registered firms and non-registered exchanges apply for a new designation permitting leveraged and margin crypto trading under CFTC oversight, and that he has directed staff to work with on-chain finance developers so they can offer their products legally in the US.
SEC proposes new fundraising framework
Separately, the SEC formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, a new framework that would allow certain crypto offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually without full SEC registration. The proposal would also create a conditional safe harbor for crypto assets once an issuer's essential managerial efforts have ended, and preempt certain state securities registration requirements.
The Commission voted through a "seriatim" process, meaning commissioners voted individually outside a public meeting, according to an SEC spokesperson. The vote followed the SEC's abrupt cancellation of a scheduled open meeting the previous Friday, which it attributed to an unforeseen scheduling issue.
Armstrong sees two paths to clarity
Armstrong posted on X on August 21 that clarity is coming either way, pointing to September 15 and September 16 as possible turning points. He expects more than sixty Senate votes for the Clarity Act on September 15, or new rules from the CFTC and SEC the following day.
He called the September 15 vote the development that would make the administration's crypto progress durable for decades. He credited the administration for the GENIUS Act, the strategic Bitcoin reserve, and the new SEC fundraising proposal, saying the agency-led rules show what regulation could look like if the bill stalls again.
Sources: Decrypt, CryptoPotato
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