Senate vetoes the CLARITY Act, CFTC and SEC issue guidance on crypto assets, and stablecoins receive

The Senate vetoes the CLARITY bill, and the U.S. crypto industry faces new compliance challenges.

Recently, the CLARITY Act (H.R.), which aims to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. 3633) suffered a setback in the U.S. Senate, an incident that once again drew public attention to the question of how U.S. crypto companies manage asset custody and meet regulatory requirements. Albert Castellana, CEO of GenLayer Labs, warned that uncertainty in the legal environment is still profoundly affecting the blockchain product team's strategy in innovation and compliance.

Senate deadlocked on crypto regulation bill

On September 15, in a key vote, the Senate failed to push the CLARITY Act to the next stage. The motion to end the debate failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the debate with 49 votes in favor and 50 votes against. Previously, the bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 294 to 134 in July 2025. At present, the future of the legislation remains unclear, and although the attempt to end debate does not directly repeal the basics of the bill, it poses a major obstacle to comprehensive crypto regulation.

Custody Practices and Regulatory Disputes

Castellana suggested that core regulatory issues should be based on an assessment of "actual control." He believes regulators need to examine whether companies or developers have the right to freeze assets, stop transactions or change user basic terms. He pointed out that simply releasing open source blockchain software does not automatically give it actual control over customer assets or network operations.

这一区分至关重要，因为监管灰色地带往往迫使企业依赖中心化中介——如托管机构、受限访问点或管理员密钥——而不是构建完全去中心化的解决方案。此类举措可能会影响用户体验，导致在需要身份验证或基于用户地理位置限制访问的用户界面下，底层部署开源区块链。

迷你词典：

• GenLayer Labs：一家总部位于美国的技术公司，专注于区块链基础设施和合规解决方案。
• SEC（美国证券交易委员会）：美国证券市场的主要监管机构。
• CFTC（美国商品期货交易委员会）：负责监督衍生品和商品市场。

《CLARITY法案》的部分内容解决了上述担忧，明确指出：当区块链开发者和基础设施提供商不具备控制用户交易或数字资产的能力时，仅凭软件发布、支持自我托管或提供区块链基础设施，不应将其归类为货币传输商。

一家公司是否被视为“非控制性提供者”，取决于其是否对用户数字资产交易拥有单方面控制权，这突显了当前监管讨论中的细微差别。

联邦机构的针对性措施

Currently, federal agencies are seeking targeted solutions within their existing authority. On September 17, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a non-enforcement letter stating that it would not recommend that certain registration requirements apply to passive software providers as long as certain conditions are met. This exemption applies to software that facilitates trading with registered futures commission dealers, introducing brokers and designated contract markets. However, the scope of the guidance is narrower than a comprehensive exemption for blockchain developers.

At the same time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also responded to issues in the digital asset market by providing temporary relief for specific venues where tokenized securities are traded. This allows limited trading of tokenized national market system stocks through restricted automated market makers and liquidity pools during a transition period pending further rulemaking. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins described the measure as a stopgap measure before establishing more permanent rules.

stablecoins embark on independent federal regulatory path

stablecoins, especially payment type stablecoins, are now subject to independent federal regulations. In July 2025, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act, establishing a federal-level regulatory framework for these digital payment assets.

Castellana pointed out that regulation of payments in stablecoins is now advancing independently of the stalled CLARITY Act. However, questions remain about how decentralized financial (DeFi) transactions, self-custodial wallets and trading platforms interact with these newly regulated digital assets.

This separation highlights the growing focus on application-level governance. Authorities are likely to review when software developers are considered intermediaries rather than mere technology providers.

With uncertainty about the legislative future of the CLARITY Act, agencies continue to use existing powers to address narrower issues, while industry observers point out that broader reforms may reappear on the congressional agenda. Castellana questioned whether this evolving compliance environment has increased the number of intermediaries needed by users of blockchain technology.

Amid ongoing regulatory uncertainty, companies in the blockchain space are forced to consider multiple compliance strategies as agencies and lawmakers continue to debate rules for digital assets.