Crypto Industry Spends $189 Million on 2026 Midterms as Clarity Act Faces 31% Odds

RegulationDigital Finance Impact 4
โดย Motley Fool·Read original
Summary · why it matters

The crypto industry has spent $189 million on the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, making it the largest corporate political spender this cycle, yet prediction markets give the Clarity Act just a 31% chance of passing by year-end. The bill, which cleared the House in July 2025 and the Senate Banking committee in May, would grant the Commodity Futures Trading Commission exclusive jurisdiction over spot digital commodity markets, create a decentralization test for tokens to become commodities as networks mature, and codify earlier regulatory guidance classifying Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP as commodities. Democrats are demanding ethics language to bar officials from profiting on digital assets, a push galvanized by a filing showing President Donald Trump earned $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025, while stablecoin yield rules remain another sticking point. If passed, XRP stands to gain the most, with Standard Chartered and JPMorgan projecting $4 billion to $8 billion in ETF inflows, while Ethereum staking ETFs would gain firmer legal footing and Bitcoin would see minimal incremental lift. A cloture motion before August 8 could signal progress, but without it the industry's political spending may need to wait until 2027 for a return.

Impact on stocks 2

Digital Finance & Tokenization · 1 stocks
Financials · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 2

Related news

impact 4

SEC Unveils Trading Framework for Tokenized Stocks, S&P Acquires OpenZeppelin, DeFi Market Cap Hits $80 Billion

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a provisional, conditional exemption allowing certain tokenized U.S.-listed equities to trade on-chain under specified conditions, while S&P Global agreed to acquire OpenZeppelin, a firm specializing in smart contract security infrastructure. The SEC measure, set out in a "Statement on Innovation Exemptions" signed by Commissioner Mark T. Ueda, guarantees holders of equity tokens the same rights as holders of conventional shares and requires third parties to notify the issuer of the underlying stock in writing before dealing in tokenized shares. According to S&P Global, OpenZeppelin's technology has supported the transfer of more than $37 trillion in value cumulatively, including major stablecoins and tokenized funds. Following these announcements, the market capitalization of DeFi-related tokens rose about $7 billion on Friday, climbing 8.8% to $79.8 billion, while the total market capitalization of the broader crypto market rose 4% to $2.7 trillion. Hyperliquid's HYPE jumped 10.8% to an all-time high of about $90.46, giving it a market capitalization of $20.12 billion; Uniswap's UNI rose 29.1% over 24 hours to about $9.00, for a market capitalization of $5.59 billion; and Aave's AAVE gained 9.5% to about $135.28. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said the SEC is trying to put in place as much of a crypto regulatory framework as it can under its existing authority, and described tokenization as a massive tide.
NADA NEWS·4hRead more →

CFTC Submits New Crypto Regulation Proposal to White House

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission submitted a regulatory proposal on crypto asset trading and markets to the White House for review on September 17. According to review records published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which operates under the Office of Management and Budget, the item is under review at the "pre-rule stage" and is titled "Regulation of Crypto Asset Trading and Crypto Asset Markets." The public record does not indicate specific draft rules or which entities would be covered, and the submission does not mean a new rule has been finalized. To establish oversight rules for the crypto asset market, the CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made Project Crypto a joint effort in January 2026, and in March they published interpretations and guidance on applying federal securities law to crypto assets; this submission is the CFTC's follow-on move toward rulemaking. Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act, which would set the SEC's and CFTC's supervisory scopes in law, has stalled, and the U.S. Senate on September 15 rejected a cloture motion to begin debate by a vote of 49 in favor to 50 against.
NADA NEWS·5hRead more →
impact 4

SEC Grants Five-Year Innovation Exemption for Tokenized U.S. Equities, Lifting Robinhood and Coinbase

The SEC announced a five-year conditional Innovation Exemption allowing eligible platforms to trade tokenized U.S. equities without standard exchange registration, sending shares of Robinhood up 7.6% and Coinbase up 10.5%. According to Reuters, the temporary framework lets digital asset brokerages and trading platforms support tokenized equity trading while the agency solicits public comments to shape permanent regulatory policies for on-chain securities. Tokenized equities represent traditional corporate shares as digital tokens on a blockchain, potentially enabling 24/7 trading, fractional ownership, and more efficient settlement. The move reduces compliance hurdles and waives full exchange registration requirements for qualifying participants, opening the door for platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood to launch new asset offerings and capture additional trading volume. The rally was further supported by a rebound in the broader cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin trading up roughly 2% near $78,000. Coinbase remains down 17.7% since the start of the year and trades at $194.63 per share, 49.7% below its 52-week high of $387.27 from October 2025.
Reuters·6hRead more →