With the Clarity bill, a comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory proposal, stalled in the U.S. Senate, federal regulators are speeding up rule updates using existing authority, CNBC reported on Sept. 22 (local time).

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) each launched follow-up steps after delays in congressional legislation.

The SEC issued an order outlining a temporary path that allows some tokenised stock trading, two days after the Clarity bill failed to advance in the Senate. The move is seen as bringing financial markets closer to 24-hour trading. On the same day, the CFTC sent a proposed cryptocurrency-related rule to the White House for review. Details were not disclosed, but the U.S. Office of Management and Budget confirmed the regulation is pending review.

The crypto industry has supported passage of the bill, but it is also looking to regulators to issue separate guidance. Summer Mersinger (서머 머싱어), chief executive of the Blockchain Association and a former CFTC commissioner, said entry by traditional finance is being blocked by regulatory uncertainty. She said if regulators provide some certainty, more investment and integration with traditional finance would be possible and industry growth would continue.

Some also said it is difficult to wait for congressional legislation. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (브라이언 암스트롱) said after a Senate procedural vote failed on Sept. 15, "At this point, I don't think we can wait any longer for Congress and the Senate." Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott also called for federal agencies to present "clear rules" for digital assets until Congress passes a law.

Still, federal agency rules are not easy to create quickly. The CFTC pointed to Chairman Michael Selig's statement on Sept. 16 on the future regulatory direction. Selig said U.S. President Donald Trump promised crypto market structure regulation that can apply in the future, and that the CFTC would help that work using existing legal authority. The SEC said it is also reviewing ways to modernise custody rules for investment advisers' client assets and fund assets, and that this includes handling crypto assets.

Inside regulators, there were also remarks suggesting they had already contemplated the possibility that congressional legislation could be blocked. Caroline Pham (캐럴라인 팸), a former acting CFTC chair, said a "Plan B" at the agency level had been prepared from the start. She said the possibility had been reflected in work the two agencies had carried out since the launch of a second Trump term. She said work has been under way to modernise securities rules and align the SEC's and CFTC's crypto rules through "Project Crypto," which began in July 2025. Pham has said the CFTC would begin implementing recommendations from the President's Digital Asset Market Working Group in August 2025.

As the federal regulatory framework in Washington wavers, a turf battle between state governments and the federal government is also intensifying. On Sept. 14, a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general sent a letter opposing the Clarity bill to the Senate Banking Committee, saying it weakens states' authority to regulate securities markets. They argued state governments must continue to have the tools needed to protect the public from predatory fraudsters.

In contrast, Aaron Klein (애런 클라인), a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said it is not appropriate for state governments to regulate nationwide and international capital markets. He said capital market regulation should be conducted at the federal level, while adding that state governments have substantial authority in fraud and criminal enforcement. In the absence of a federal framework, he also said state governments need to be more proactive in monitoring payment processing and prosecuting criminals.

Mersinger pointed out that state enforcement takes place after crimes have already occurred. She said federal-level oversight should operate before state attorneys general pursue lawsuits, so that situations involving malicious actors or harm to residents can be reduced.

In politics, midterm election issues are emerging, but discussion of the Clarity bill is not completely over. Senator Thom Tillis secured a procedure that would allow him to again raise a motion to reconsider the bill by revising his previous opposing vote. As a result, U.S. crypto regulation is expected for the time being to continue in a structure in which congressional legislation and regulators' workaround rule updates proceed in parallel.