TLDR:
- Atkins says the SEC will act on its own if the Clarity Act flounders in the Senate.
- The bill lost momentum after clearing the House and Senate Banking Committee earlier.
- Ethics provisions and stablecoin yield rules remain unresolved sticking points for Democrats.
- Project Crypto’s rulemaking package offers a fallback bridge until legislation succeeds.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the agency will step in with its own crypto market rules if the Clarity Act flounders in Congress. Atkins told CNBC the SEC stands ready to provide that framework should the bill fail to clear the Senate.
He argued legislation remains the better path, since a statute cannot shift with every new administration. The bill has stalled after clearing two major hurdles already.
Bill Stalls Despite Early Momentum
The Clarity Act passed the House by a vote of 294-134 last July. It then cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 in May, with nine Democrats opposed. That momentum has since faded as the bill sits without a floor vote. A full Senate vote requires 60 votes to succeed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week the bill likely will not clear the chamber before August recess. The Senate has since shelved the measure for the time being.
Some Senate Democrats object to ethics provisions covering officials’ crypto dealings. They argue the current language does not go far enough.
Whether stablecoins can pay yield also remains an open question. The Clarity Act would give the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over spot digital commodity markets.
This shift would move most tokens outside the SEC’s regulatory reach. Atkins said he still expects Congress to pass the bill eventually.
The SEC continues offering technical assistance as lawmakers work through the text. Atkins repeated his support in a post on X on Tuesday.
He wrote that he remains committed to helping Congress advance the legislation. His remarks come as the bill’s floundering raises pressure for a fallback plan.
Agency Already Building a Fallback
The SEC has already assembled part of an alternative framework on its own. Atkins’s Project Crypto initiative, announced in November, laid the groundwork for this effort.
It produced a Regulation Crypto rulemaking package now sitting on the agency’s 2026 agenda. Atkins has described this package as a bridge to the Clarity Act.
The package covers token registration exemptions and custody standards for digital assets. It also proposes a safe harbor for projects moving toward decentralization.
Broker-dealer custody rules and trading venue standards round out the plan. Each piece is designed to function even without new legislation.
Agency rulemaking still carries real limits compared to a statute. The SEC and CFTC issued joint guidance in March classifying 16 tokens as digital commodities.
Bitcoin and Ethereum were among the tokens named under that guidance. The classification was widely viewed as a stopgap ahead of formal legislation.
That guidance remains administrative rather than statutory in nature. A future administration could withdraw it without any congressional vote.
This exposure is why Atkins keeps pushing lawmakers toward permanent legislation. As the Clarity Act flounders, that vulnerability becomes harder for the market to ignore.
