Overview
- President Trump met with crypto industry leaders at the White House, urging Congress to pass a "fair version" of the Clarity Act, amid ongoing debates about its ethics provisions.
- CFTC Chairman Mike Selig highlighted the bill as a safeguard against regulatory overreach, warning that the agency would take action if the legislation stalls due to "Democratic obstruction."
- The SEC proposed its Regulation Crypto Assets, which would allow offerings up to $5 million over four years or $75 million per year without extensive registration, alongside a conditional safe harbor provision.
This week marked a significant shift in Washington as the usual August calm was interrupted by a series of crypto-related events.
The SEC introduced its first specific rulemaking proposal for crypto on Tuesday, followed by President Donald Trump hosting industry executives at the White House on Wednesday, and the inaugural meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday.
Myriad: Will the Clarity Act be signed into law in 2026? Click to make your prediction.Ethics discussions also took place in private meeting sessions. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, a16z Managing Partner Chris Dixon, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the act's potential benefits for U.S. jobs and economic growth, as well as strategies for overcoming hurdles including the ethics provisions.
Thank you @POTUS for inviting crypto leaders to the White House yesterday and leading the push for CLARITY. I also appreciate @ChairmanSelig doing the same at the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee meeting. It’s clear that there is a lot of support for crypto innovation from the…
— Chris Dixon (@cdixon) August 20, 2026
The theme of advancing crypto legislation was echoed at the CFTC meeting, where various leaders from traditional finance, crypto, prediction markets, and AI gathered. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig remarked that passing the Clarity Act is vital to prevent future regulatory overreach similar to what occurred under former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who oversaw numerous enforcement actions against crypto entities.
However, Selig also warned that the CFTC is prepared to act if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act, stating, "If Clarity continues to stall because of Democratic obstruction, the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets." He noted that staff has been directed to explore potential regulations.
In the meantime, the SEC has formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which aims to create a framework for crypto fundraising in the U.S. The proposal would permit offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually without complete SEC registration, establish a conditional safe harbor for crypto assets post-management efforts, and preempt certain state registration requirements.
The process for the proposal's approval was also noteworthy, as the Commission utilized a "seriatim" method, allowing individual commissioner votes outside a public meeting. This followed the abrupt cancellation of a scheduled open meeting, which was said to be due to an "unforeseen scheduling issue." Reports indicated that both the White House and Wall Street groups influenced this cancellation, with concerns that new regulations might complicate negotiations over the Clarity Act.
Additionally, a "White House mix-up" was cited as contributing to the meeting's cancellation, with confusion over whether the SEC intended to advance the Regulation Crypto Assets or a separate innovation exemption for tokenization.
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