US Crypto Regulation Update

TL;DR

Key Developments

1. 01

   GENIUS Act establishes federal stablecoin framework with reserve and disclosure requirements

2. 02

   CLARITY Act moves through Senate to define CFTC versus SEC jurisdictional boundaries

3. 03

   SEC issued interpretive guidance on airdrops, staking, and wrapping effective March 23, 2026

4. 04

   Form 1099-DA reporting begins in 2026 for calendar year 2025 digital asset transactions

5. 05

   OCC launched proposed rulemaking on February 25, 2026 for GENIUS implementation

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act became Public Law 119-27 on July 18, 2025 after passing the Senate 68–30 on June 17, 2025 and the House 308–122 on July 17, 2025.

The law builds a federal framework for payment stablecoins, limiting issuance to permitted issuers and requiring reserves backing stablecoins on a one-to-one basis, plus monthly public reserve disclosures and a disclosed redemption policy.

GENIUS hard-codes jurisdictional boundaries that matter to desks pricing regulatory risk: permitted payment stablecoins are not treated as securities under federal securities law, while permitted issuers and covered intermediaries are still subject to Bank Secrecy Act anti–money laundering obligations.

State oversight is capped for stablecoin issuance of $10 billion or less, with larger programs pushed toward federal pathways. The statute also allows foreign issuers to access U.S. markets via digital asset service providers if Treasury determines their home regime is comparable.

Implementation is now the market's main variable. On February 25, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued Bulletin 2026-3 launching a notice of proposed rulemaking tied to GENIUS, aimed at national banks and other entities under the OCC's jurisdiction that want to issue, or support activities related to, payment stablecoins.

The SEC's own crypto regulatory posture shifted materially in early 2026. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, sworn in on April 21, 2025, has overseen a push toward more explicit interpretive guidance alongside continued fraud-focused enforcement.

On March 17, 2026, the SEC issued an interpretive release clarifying the application of federal securities laws to certain crypto assets and transactions, including airdrops, protocol mining, protocol staking, and the wrapping of a non-security crypto asset; the release became effective March 23, 2026.

Accounting and disclosure friction eased earlier in the cycle. The SEC's Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122, issued January 23, 2025 and effective January 30, 2025, rescinded SAB 121's interpretive guidance on Accounting for Obligations to Safeguard Crypto-Assets held for platform users.

This removed a flashpoint that had pushed some firms to limit or re-scope certain customer-facing crypto services.

The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act 294–134 on July 17, 2025. In the Senate, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a high-profile markup and advanced the bill on May 14, 2026.

The bill is now heading toward a floor fight where the vote math is widely viewed as the gating factor. CLARITY's core trade is jurisdictional clarity in exchange for a registration-and-compliance perimeter.

It defines digital commodities and puts primary oversight for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers with the CFTC, while preserving SEC jurisdiction in defined securities-market contexts.

The bill also pulls Bank Secrecy Act coverage explicitly into market structure, pairing rules of the road with baseline surveillance, recordkeeping, and customer-asset handling requirements.