SEC Moves Ahead on Crypto Rules After Senate Fails to Pass CLARITY Act
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving ahead with new rules for cryptocurrency under its existing authority after the Senate failed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
The bill, which aimed to establish a federal framework for digital assets, fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in a 50-49 vote on September 15. The SEC granted temporary relief allowing certain venues to trade tokenized versions of stocks listed on US exchanges, citing its existing statutory authority.
The exemption applies to tokenized National Market System stocks that provide investors with the same rights as the underlying traditional securities, including voting and dividend rights. Synthetic products that merely track a stock's price without providing ownership rights are not covered.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins directly linked the move to the failure of the CLARITY Act, saying the commission was acting within its existing statutory authority after Congress was unable to advance the legislation.