Washington’s usual August lull disappeared this week.

The SEC unveiled its first crypto-specific rulemaking proposal on Tuesday, President Donald Trump hosted industry executives at the White House on Wednesday, and the CFTC convened the inaugural meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday.

In a packed stretch of activity, Trump pressed Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act—a nod to disputed ethics provisions he says single him out. At the CFTC’s inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, Chairman Mike Selig framed the bill as protection against “another Gary Gensler” but warned that if Clarity stalls over “Democratic obstruction,” the agency will use its existing authorities to build its own crypto regime, having already directed staff to explore rules. The SEC, meanwhile, formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets—allowing certain offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually without full registration, plus a conditional safe harbor.

All of it points back to the Clarity Act, the market-structure bill that would divide oversight of digital assets between the two agencies—handing the CFTC spot markets in tokens deemed commodities while leaving assets deemed securities with the SEC. It is an attempt to settle a gray zone that has hung over the industry for a decade: no federal regulator has direct, ongoing oversight of spot crypto trading, and issuers have long had to guess whether their tokens count as securities.

Trump’s message to crypto executives: Pass the Clarity Act

President Trump had a clear message for the crypto executives invited to the Oval Office: pass the Clarity Act.

Industry executives left Wednesday’s White House meeting with renewed optimism about the Clarity Act’s prospects. Trump urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the bipartisan bill when lawmakers return next month, a reference to ethics provisions proposed by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). Trump has argued that some of the provisions unfairly single him out, while the dispute over them has become the main obstacle to securing bipartisan agreement.

The Tillis-Gallego language would require the president, other senior officials, and members of Congress to disclose and divest certain digital-asset holdings, and restrict officials from issuing tokens of their own. Democrats have pressed for such guardrails in part because of crypto ventures tied to the president and his family, including World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and the TRUMP memecoin.

Ethics was also a focus behind closed doors. Ahead of the public remarks, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, a16z Managing Partner Chris Dixon, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi met privately with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

The discussion focused on the importance of passing the Clarity Act, including what it could mean for U.S. jobs, economic growth, and bringing crypto entrepreneurs and companies back onshore. The group also discussed the remaining hurdles, including ethics, and how the White House could help chart a path toward bipartisan agreement.

Dixon later thanked the president and the CFTC chairman publicly:

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

CFTC: pass Clarity, or the agency will act

Getting crypto’s marquee legislation across the finish line was also a central theme at Thursday’s Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, which brought together leaders from traditional finance, crypto, prediction markets, and AI.

“Passing Clarity is the surest way that we can prevent another Gary Gensler from running a rogue campaign of lawfare against the individuals and companies in this room today,” Selig said, referring to the former SEC chief under whose leadership the agency brought 125 crypto-related enforcement actions.

But Selig also made clear that the commodities regulator is preparing to act if Congress fails to deliver.

“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 said, adding that he has already directed agency staff to begin exploring such rules. A regime built that way, unlike a statute, could later be rewritten by a different commission—one reason the industry has long treated legislation as the more durable prize.

SEC proposes Regulation Crypto Assets

Meanwhile, the SEC formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, a new framework for crypto fundraising in the U.S. The proposal would allow certain offerings of up to $5 million over four years, or $75 million annually, without full SEC registration; create a conditional safe harbor for crypto assets once an issuer’s essential managerial efforts have ended; and preempt certain state securities registration requirements. As a formal proposal, it now heads into a public comment period before the commission can adopt final rules, meaning none of the relief is in force yet.

The way the proposal was approved was also notable. The Commission voted through a “seriatim” process, meaning commissioners voted individually outside a public meeting, according to an SEC spokesperson.

The SEC had been scheduled to consider Regulation Crypto Assets at an open meeting last Friday, but fueled intrigue when it abruptly canceled the meeting, citing an “unforeseen scheduling issue.”

Crypto in America, a newsletter written by Eleanor Terrett, reported earlier this week that pressure from both the White House and Wall Street groups contributed to the cancellation. The White House was concerned that Regulation Crypto Assets and a separate innovation exemption for tokenization could complicate negotiations over the Clarity Act. Wall Street groups have also raised legal concerns about the innovation exemption, arguing that changes of that scale should proceed through formal rulemaking rather than exemptions or no-action relief.

Semafor later reported that a “White House mix-up” also contributed to the cancellation, with officials confused about whether the SEC planned to advance Regulation Crypto Assets or the innovation exemption for tokenization.

The week’s activity now converges on a single question for the fall: whether Congress resolves the ethics standoff and delivers the Clarity Act, or whether U.S. crypto ends up governed instead by the SEC and CFTC rulemaking now in motion.