The SEC and CFTC issued joint guidance this week that sorts digital assets into five buckets — digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities. It's the first time the two agencies have agreed on a single framework, and it lands as the Senate's market structure bill sits stalled on the calendar.
The five-bucket framework
The guidance is an interpretation, not a statute. That means a future commission can revise or withdraw it without a congressional vote. Still, the practical effect is immediate: the first four categories generally fall outside securities law, leaving digital securities as the only bucket firmly under SEC jurisdiction. The SEC can still assert authority over specific nonsecurity assets in particular cases.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the guidance ends a decade of lack of clarity on whether crypto assets implicate federal securities laws. He also previewed a broader framework — a startup exemption, a fundraising exemption, and a safe harbor for crypto assets that have outgrown securities treatment. None of that is law yet.
The Senate logjam
The House passed the CLARITY Act 294-134 in July 2025. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version 15-9 in May, and it's been sitting on the Senate calendar since June 1 without a floor vote. Republicans added an ethics provision on July 22 that Democrats rejected, and the Agriculture Committee advanced its section without Democratic votes. Coinbase has also pulled its support.
The timing isn't great. Institutional flows have already responded to the delay, and the legislative calendar is about to get squeezed by midterm politics.
What's still unresolved
Stablecoin rewards remain the sticking point. Banks want tighter restrictions; the crypto industry argues that hinders competitiveness. Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis reportedly reached a bipartisan agreement on the issue, though details are vague. President Trump has criticized banks for undermining the GENIUS Act and urged swift action on market structure.
David Carlisle from Elliptic noted that the SEC and CFTC's joint interpretation provides needed assurance amid legislative uncertainty. That's the quiet part — the agencies moved because Congress hasn't.
The political clock
Even if the Senate Banking Committee marks up its bill in April, lawmakers would still need to merge it with the Agriculture Committee's version, clear a 60-vote floor threshold, and reconcile with the House's CLARITY Act before midterm politics freeze legislative activity.
Sen. Bernie Moreno put a finer point on it: 'If we don't get the CLARITY Act passed by May, digital asset legislation will not pass for the foreseeable future.'
The joint guidance is now the only federal framework in place. Whether it survives the next commission — or gets replaced by an actual statute — is the open question.
