Bernstein Predicts Aggressive SEC And CFTC Rulemaking After Clarity Act Failure

Analysts at Bernstein expect U.S. regulators to move quickly with new crypto rules following the Clarity Act’s failed Senate cloture vote, arguing agencies will push to make up for lost regulatory ground.

What New Rules May Look Like

In a note shared Wednesday, Bernstein said it expects the SEC and CFTC to roll out regulations covering token classification standards for capital raising, developer protections for DeFi and self-custodial protocols, exemptions to support equity tokenization, faster approval timelines for real-world asset perpetual futures, and updated rules around how sports event contracts are classified. The analysts said these efforts would provide meaningful clarity for the industry, even though they wouldn’t offer the same lasting protection against future political shifts that congressional legislation would have provided.

Regulators Already Moving Ahead

The Senate failed Tuesday to pass a cloture motion on the Clarity Act, and Bernstein said a renewed vote appears unlikely given limited legislative time and unresolved concerns over the bill’s ethics provisions. Regulators have already begun acting independentl, the SEC proposed new rules in August aimed at creating a clearer framework for crypto-related investment contracts, including exemptions allowing companies to raise up to $5 million in tokens over four years or up to $75 million within a year, along with a safe harbor shielding certain crypto assets from being classified as investment contracts.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins had said in July that the agency was prepared to issue its own rules if Congress failed to pass the bill.