Crypto for Advisors: The CLARITY Act failed, but the rules came anyway

There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come. For now, that time has not arrived. But as Congress closed a door, regulators opened a window.

Both the SEC and CFTC moved with remarkable speed. Just two days after CLARITY failed, the SEC issued an “Innovation Exemption” allowing certain venues to trade tokenized U.S.-listed stocks onchain using automated market makers and liquidity pools. Chairman Paul Atkins called it a “bridge toward durable rulemaking.”

The CFTC has also been stripping away practical barriers, providing relief to certain software providers and updating guidance around tokenized investments and blockchain-based recordkeeping.

Congress declined to build the bridge, so regulators like Atkins have started laying planks themselves.

The question now is whether regulatory clarity can substitute for legislative clarity — and, if so, for how long.

Perhaps regulators recognize something Congress has yet to fully accommodate: the genie is already out of the bottle.

New technologies generally need three things to achieve mass adoption: technology that works, products people want and a regulatory environment that allows companies to build. Crypto increasingly has the first two. Regulators are now attempting to provide the third.

The technology is ready for prime time. Solana, for example, can handle the same transaction volume as the equity, fixed-income and foreign exchange markets combined. Platforms like Hyperliquid, which provide real-time, 24/7/365 trading in virtually any market, are beginning to eat into traditional commodities futures markets.