After Clarity Act Stalls, SEC And CFTC Take On Bigger Role - Forbes

The stalled Clarity Act leaves the U.S. without a comprehensive statutory framework for digital assets, shifting the practical center of policymaking toward the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In the absence of new legislation, these agencies shape the rules through enforcement actions, guidance, and no-action positions — a piecemeal approach that can produce overlapping or shifting standards.

For markets, the key takeaway is that regulatory clarity may now arrive agency by agency rather than through a single law. That raises the importance of how the SEC and CFTC define which tokens are securities versus commodities, and how they treat exchanges, brokers, and custody arrangements.

What to watch: formal rulemaking proposals, enforcement priorities, and any joint statements between the two agencies. Also monitor whether Congress revisits the Clarity Act, since legislation would override agency-level approaches. Until then, participants should expect continued uncertainty and headline-driven volatility around regulatory news.