U.S. crypto law deadline
Congress is on a six-week clock to pass the CLARITY Act or push major crypto reforms into 2027 — regulators are also releasing fresh SEC interpretive guidance and the CFTC is coordinating oversight work around crypto, AI and prediction markets, raising a near-term volatility risk for U.S.-linked assets. (coinpedia.org) (theblock.co)
The CLARITY Act passed the House on July 17, 2025 by a 294–134 vote, but it still requires Senate committee markups, floor passage and reconciliation before a presidential signature. (congress.gov)) Senate negotiators reported an agreement in principle on the long‑running stablecoin‑yield impasse on March 20, 2026 — the specific compromise removed the single biggest barrier that had stalled the bill in committee. (coindesk.com)) The SEC and CFTC issued a joint interpretive release on March 17, 2026 that runs roughly 68 pages and establishes a multi‑part token taxonomy while explicitly addressing activities such as staking, airdrops, protocol mining and “wrapping.” (theblock.co)) That interpretive release is a commission‑level statement that supersedes prior 2019 staff guidance but remains an interpretive position rather than a statutory rule, and the agencies warned the framework could guide enforcement and exam activity. (federalregister.gov)) The CFTC announced an Innovation Task Force on March 24, 2026 to coordinate policy on crypto, AI and prediction markets, with Chair Michael Selig naming senior advisor Michael J. Passalacqua to lead the effort and commit to coordination with the SEC. (cftc.gov)) Wall‑street and crypto market responses were mixed: Citigroup cut its 12‑month price targets for BTC and ETH citing slower legislative momentum, while intraday trading around the SEC/CFTC release showed muted moves with Bitcoin trading near ~$69k and Ether near ~$2,104 on March 22. (coindesk.com)) Market‑infrastructure and compliance startups moved in parallel with regulatory action: Chainalysis announced a Solana developer‑platform integration for real‑time compliance on March 24, 2026, and institutional trading infrastructure player Crossover Markets closed a $31 million Series B this month to scale execution services. (chainalysis.com)
