Key Takeaways
- Grayscale says crypto policy can advance without CLARITY becoming law.
- Stablecoin legislation has passed, while SEC fundraising rules remain proposed.
- Congress would provide a durable division of SEC and CFTC authority.
Grayscale Sees Regulatory Progress Beyond CLARITY
Crypto businesses could gain clearer fundraising and trading rules even if Congress fails to pass comprehensive market legislation this year. Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl outlined that assessment in a Sept. 10 analysis, pointing to developments affecting stablecoins, token issuance, tokenized securities, and perpetual futures. The crypto asset manager views those initiatives as progress independent of the CLARITY Act’s fate.
According to Grayscale:
“CLARITY is no longer the only source of regulatory direction. The US framework is becoming clearer across stablecoins, token issuance, tokenized securities, and perpetual futures even without the CLARITY Act.”
The bill’s immediate hurdle is a Sept. 15 cloture vote on the motion to proceed, a procedural step requiring 60 votes rather than a decision on final passage. Grayscale argues that an unsuccessful vote would narrow the opportunity for enactment this year, while leaving lawmakers the option of revisiting the measure during the post-election session.
“CLARITY remains important because only Congress can establish a comprehensive and durable division of SEC and CFTC authority. But failure in 2026 would not stop regulatory progress already underway,” the Grayscale head of research added.
Stablecoin Law Establishes a Separate Framework
Federal legislation has already addressed payment stablecoins, one segment of the crypto market that Grayscale identifies as increasingly defined. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law on July 18, 2025, establishing a regulatory framework for their issuance. That legislative achievement is separate from the wider market structure questions Congress is considering through CLARITY.
Under the law, consumer protections for payment stablecoins operate through requirements governing the assets issuers hold and disclose. Its provisions include full reserve backing and monthly public disclosures about reserve composition, according to the White House. It also prohibits misleading claims that these tokens are federally insured, backed by the U.S. government, or legal tender.
Those safeguards concern a category of digital assets designed to maintain a reference value for payments and transfers. Stablecoins commonly track currencies such as the dollar, though their structures and risks differ. Their regulatory framework addresses issuance and backing, while CLARITY seeks to resolve broader questions about how crypto markets and intermediaries are supervised.
SEC Proposals Target Fundraising and Tokenization
Crypto projects seeking capital could receive new exemptions under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed fundraising framework. Proposed Aug. 18, Regulation Crypto Assets would permit qualifying offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million per 12-month period. Issuers would provide disclosures and remain subject to antifraud and antimanipulation provisions.
That proposal also addresses when an investment contract involving a crypto asset could cease to fall within securities regulation. Its conditional safe harbor centers on an issuer completing or permanently ceasing the essential managerial efforts promised to purchasers. The fundraising exemptions and safe harbor remain proposed, with public comments due Oct. 20.
Other initiatives in Grayscale’s assessment concern how securities ownership is recorded and where digital assets can trade. Proposed transfer-agent rules would accommodate blockchain ownership records, while an innovation exemption under consideration could support certain onchain securities activities. Pandl also identifies regulated perpetual futures pathways the CFTC has opened through Kalshi and Coinbase, describing possible products linked to platforms such as Hyperliquid as a potential development.
The analysis emphasized:
“CLARITY would provide the most comprehensive framework for US crypto markets, but its passage is not determinative—crypto policy is already advancing and providing better clarity on several other fronts.”
