SEC backs Clarity Act while advancing crypto rulemaking agenda

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SEC backs Clarity Act, crypto rules

Highlights

SEC Chair Paul Atkins supports the Clarity Act but is advancing a three-pillar regulatory agenda centered on issuance, transfer, and custody of digital assets.
The SEC is proposing updates to transfer agent rules and new custody guidelines, potentially allowing investment advisers to self-custody or use state trust companies for crypto assets.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act faces Senate resistance from major banks and 18 attorneys general, with Polymarket bettors assigning a 17% chance it becomes law in 2026.

SEC agenda centers on issuance, transfer and custody

As reported by CoinDesk, SEC Chair Paul Atkins says Congress should move the Clarity Act forward quickly, but the agency’s crypto regulatory drive continues even if the legislation stalls.

Speaking at a Solana Policy Institute event in Washington on Monday, Atkins says the SEC is building its approach around what he calls three pillars of a broader framework for how digital assets are issued, transferred and held in the U.S. He says the first pillar is the proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which is intended to give entrepreneurs more certainty when raising capital with digital assets in the U.S.

Atkins also points to an overhaul of transfer agent rules so blockchain-based systems can be used for digital ownership ledgers. He says those rules were built for paper stock certificates and have not been seriously updated in roughly four decades, even as transfer agents adapt to tokenized assets.

On custody, Atkins says he has asked SEC staff to prepare a proposal that would clarify how investment advisers and regulated funds may hold crypto assets. Under certain conditions, the proposal could allow advisers to self-custody crypto or use state trust companies as custodians, which he says may be necessary because qualified third-party custodians do not yet exist for some assets.

Senate vote faces opposition from banks and states

The Senate is set to hold a cloture vote on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Eastern time, on a motion to proceed to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, testing whether the broader crypto market structure bill has enough support to advance.

The bill is meeting resistance from several groups as the vote nears. Eight banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute and Independent Community Bankers of America, urge Senate leaders on Monday to tighten limits on stablecoin interest and rewards, arguing the current approach could contribute to deposit flight and reduce lending.

A separate coalition of 18 attorneys general from states and the District of Columbia also warns that the current bill could weaken their authority to pursue crypto-related fraud, and urges senators to oppose it unless those powers are preserved. Market expectations also reflect the uncertainty, with Polymarket bettors pricing a 17% chance by Monday afternoon that the crypto market structure bill becomes law in 2026, down from about 30% earlier in the day.

Our earlier coverage of the Clarity Act focused on the intensifying Senate fight ahead of a key procedural vote, with Senator Elizabeth Warren arguing the bill’s revised ethics language still leaves room for conflicts tied to senior officials’ crypto interests. The update also noted late-stage text changes aimed at addressing Democratic concerns, including expanded enforcement authority for state attorneys general, alongside broader banking-related pushback tied to stablecoin provisions.

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