SEC and CFTC are rushing to write crypto rules after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate

Following the failure of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the U.S. Senate, the SEC and CFTC have initiated independent regulatory actions to address the digital asset landscape. The Senate vote failed to reach the 60-vote threshold, with a 50-49 split driven by concerns over ethics provisions regarding official conduct. In response to the legislative impasse, the SEC issued an order establishing a temporary pathway for trading specific tokenized stocks, signaling a potential shift toward 24/7 financial markets. Simultaneously, the CFTC submitted a rulemaking proposal to the White House, currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget. Industry leaders, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and MoonPay Institutional CEO Caroline Pham, emphasized that agency-level guidance is essential to reduce uncertainty for traditional financial institutions. This regulatory pivot follows the launch of the 'Project Crypto' initiative in July 2025, which aims to align SEC and CFTC oversight. These developments are critical for the RWA market as they represent a transition from legislative gridlock to administrative rulemaking, which could provide the necessary framework for broader institutional adoption of tokenized assets.