Congress delays encryption rules, Wall Street builds markets

The Senate missed the target date for the CLARITY Act for the third time

The Senate missed the target date for the CLARITY Act to be voted on in Congress for the third time this year; the next attempt was a motion for closure of debate on September 15. The White House said that if it was missed again, its chances of passing the bill this year could end.

During the same period of time, five institutions still moved forward with their plans: Wintermute registered as a U.S. broker-dealer, MasterCard completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK, BlackRock launched two tokenized money market funds, the New York Stock Exchange expanded a tokenized securities pilot project, and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority opened early discussions on tokenized gold.

Never mentioned a congressional document

Wintermute announced its accreditation as a U.S. broker-dealer. The company talked about stock trading, ETF authorized participant status (that is, the role of directly working with funds to create and redeem ETF shares), the self-clearing business of digital asset securities, and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy's ambition to compete with Jump Trading, Jane Street and Citadel within three to five years.

The same is true for the announcement of the New York Stock Exchange. When Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced in January that it would build a tokenized securities trading and online settlement platform, President Lynn Martin positioned it as the exchange "leading the industry towards a complete online solution." The NYSE's subsequent rule document with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission depends on Congress's decision on crypto market structure legislation.

This phenomenon is remarkable only because of its timing. On August 6, the week that Wintermute filed the documents, the Senate quietly missed the third target date for this year's parliamentary vote on the CLARITY Act: first the July 4 signing target, then the pre-recess vote, and now the September 15 deadline set by Majority Leader John Thune for motions to close debate.

"If they can't do it before September 15, they will never."

In other words, the two largest institutions that entered the regulated crypto infrastructure space this summer were built and declared without reference to the law that Washington has long described as a "fundamental fix" for the crypto industry.

Markets move forward amid debate in Washington

Wintermute and the New York Stock Exchange-The same disconnect occurred four more times in the following weeks.

MasterCard completed its approximately US$1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK on August 3. BlackRock launched two tokenized money market products, BSTBL and BRSRV, on the same day. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is in early discussions with major banks on a framework for tokenized gold as collateral for derivatives.

The White House's warnings and the view of gray investment are real. Zach Pandl, head of research at Gray Scale, argued this week that without comprehensive rules on market structure,"a larger share of new investment could flow overseas." Both involve a real game about new crypto-native products and the direction of retail investor protection.

The difference between actual implementation and still on paper

First of all, let's look at what has actually been in operation and what is still on paper. A rule change submitted by the New York Stock Exchange with the SEC and effective April 17 allows Russell 1000 Index constituents and certain ETFs to be traded in tokenization under the Depository Trust Company pilot program: the same CUSIP (existing identification number of securities, unchanged), T+1 settlement, and is structurally identical to normal trading except in packaging form. The completely independent, all-weather real-time settlement platform mentioned by the New York Stock Exchange has not yet been approved as of this month.

MasterCard's transaction with BVNK is advancing faster than its own expectations. The acquisition, announced in March and valued at US$1.8 billion, was originally expected to be completed "before the end of 2026"; it was completed on August 3 and took only four and a half months. MasterCard already manages network relationships covering "fiat, stablecoins and tokenized deposits" to which BVNK's channels are directly connected. The acquisition follows the model established by Stripe in 2024, when Stripe acquired stablecoin platform Bridge for approximately US$1.1 billion. The deal was believed by S & P Global Markets Financial Intelligence to help drive a wider wave of payments company stablecoin mergers and acquisitions, and MasterCard's latest deal continues this trend.

BlackRock's move is the clearest example of public motivation. Chief Financial Officer Martin Small directly linked BSTBL and BRSRV to specific revenue lines:

"We already manage $60 billion in reserves for Circle... we want to be the reserve manager of choice."

Both products are designed to meet the qualified reserve asset conditions for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The new fund is built directly on BlackRock's original tokenized treasury fund, BUIDL, which has grown to approximately US$2.9 billion in size on the chain since its launch in 2024. This is a reference case for new products.

London quietly pushed institutions to turn to

Wintermute is the second crypto market maker to obtain broker-dealer qualification this year. GSR achieved the same goal about two months ago by directly acquiring an existing FINRA-registered broker-dealer (rather than registering it from scratch): a faster but less controlled path. Wintermute's path takes longer: it took approximately 18 months from opening an office in New York in early 2025 to passing FINRA membership approval in August this year. The two companies achieved the same regulatory status through different paths, and neither path went through Congress.

London's contribution to this model is smaller and at an earlier stage than the other five companies. According to a report quoted by the Financial Times this month in crypto industry media, the FCA is in early discussions with major banks on the criteria for tokenized gold as collateral for derivatives: bank-level consultations. The basis-the broader tokenization document released by the FCA and the Bank of England in May-never mentions gold. The Hong Kong government-backed gold clearing system was launched in July, clearly aiming to compete for the center of gold and silver. In the first quarter of this year alone, the volume of tokenized gold trading reached US$90.7 billion, exceeding the entire year of 2025. London has an incentive to act before the market structure is finalized elsewhere, but says it is a framework ahead of the FCA's own actual progress.

Compliance Cost Curve

arranges these six institutions according to their paths to achieve their goals, and a cost curve emerges. Agencies that acted independently early (Stripe acquired Bridge in 2024, BlackRock built BUIDL from scratch the same year) bear the highest compliance and engineering costs. Subsequent imitators inherited cheaper paths: MasterCard's BVNK deal used Stripe's normalized M & A model; BlackRock's BSTBL and BRSRV reused BUIDL's transfer agency relationships and regulatory posture rather than building it from scratch. The same goes for registration: GSR's acquisition path in 2025 is faster than Wintermute's FINRA registration from scratch, but Wintermute's approach can be said to be more lasting once completed.

Institutional

Institutional: Wintermute

Initiative: Broker dealer registration

Status as of August 10, 2026: Registered

Legal/Regulatory Basis: Regular FINRA/Broker-dealer Law

Institutions: NYSE/ICE

Initiatives: Tokenized Securities Settlement

Status as of August 10, 2026: DTC Pilot is online;24/7 Platforms are still pending approval

Legal/Regulatory Basis: SEC staff no objection letter, three-year sandbox (Expires approximately 2028)

Institution: Mastercard/BVNK

Action: US$1.8 billion acquisition

As of August 10, 2026 Status: Completed August 3, 2026

Legal/Regulatory Basis: Regular M & A/Bank Review

Institution: BlackRock

Initiatives: BSTBL/BRSRV tokenized money market funds

Status as of August 10, 2026: Launched August 3, 2026

Legal/Regulatory Basis: Funds Law + GENIUS Act Reserve Eligibility

Institutions: UK FCA

Initiatives: Tokenization Gold Framework

Status as of August 10, 2026: Early bank consultations, informal rules

Legal/regulatory basis: not yet available; extended from May 2026 FCA/BoE document

Regulatory basis is critical

An important pattern change has occurred here. Wintermute's FINRA registration, Mastercard's acquisition, and BlackRock's fund issuance are all based on ordinary and non-expiration regulatory foundations: broker-dealer laws, standard M & A reviews, and funds laws in conjunction with the enacted GENIUS Act.

The situation on the New York Stock Exchange is different. The DTC pilot project on which it relies for tokenized securities trading is based on a no-objection letter issued by SEC staff on December 11, 2025, which is clearly limited to a three-year sandbox. This makes this part of the New York Stock Exchange's "silent institutionalization" part of the story that may be revoked by the future SEC, a vulnerability that none of the other five institutions has. If the letter can be transformed into a persistent rule before the sandbox period ends, this distinction will disappear, but for now, the NYSE's on-chain settlement advancement plan faces a shorter legal deadline than it seems.

The controversy that Congress still controls

blocking the September 15 vote is whether enforcement of the bill's ethics provisions will be done only through the Justice Department or also give state attorneys general roles-a debate that is directly related to the review of President Trump's own crypto-asset holdings. This is a real game of retail investor protection and law enforcement powers, and none of the above six measures have been touched upon. Gray's Pandl and Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor interpret the stakes differently. Pandl warned that without comprehensive rules, capital could flow directly overseas, while Saylor's stance was narrower: "Bitcoin does not need the CLARITY Act. What the United States needs is clarity."

"Bitcoin does not require the CLARITY Act. What America needs is clarity."-- Michael Saylor, August 7, 2026

Things to Focus on before September 15

Thune has set a deadline of September 15 for himself to find seven Democratic Senate votes;Witt has made it clear that missing that date would effectively end his chances of passing the bill this year. But as far as the persistence issues raised above are concerned, the key lies in DTC's no-objection letter and its expiration date in 2028. This is the actual legal event that will determine whether the NYSE's contribution to this story will last as long as the other five institutions.

FAQs

1. What is the CLARITY Act and why is its timetable repeatedly delayed?

It is a crypto market structure bill designed to resolve regulatory jurisdiction issues between the SEC and the CFTC. The bill has missed its target date three times this year, each time over the same unresolved controversy: whether its ethics provisions will be enforced only through the Justice Department or also give states attorney general roles-a controversy linked to a review of President Trump's crypto asset holdings.

2. What is actually operating on the New York Stock Exchange currently and what is still pending approval?

Operated: A narrower DTC pilot project that allows Russell 1000 Index stocks and certain ETFs to be traded in tokenized form, using T+1 settlement, using the same CUSIP. Still pending approval: the completely independent 24/7 real-time settlement platform talked about by the New York Stock Exchange.

3. Why does BlackRock pay special attention to the GENIUS Act rather than the CLARITY Act?

BSTBL and BRSRV are designed to meet the approved reserve asset conditions for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The bill is the law that specifically governs the business lines that BlackRock's chief financial officer said the funds are designed to compete.

4. Is FCA's tokenization gold program currently an official rule?

No. It is still in early discussions with major banks and is neither published rules nor even a formal consultation document on gold.