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SEC opens a tokenised-stock exemption after the crypto bill stalls

With the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act blocked in the Senate, the SEC and CFTC say they will write crypto rules under existing authority, and JPMorgan warns those rules may not hold.

Assembled by Claude from 11 sources at 11 outlets · Friday, September 18, 2026, Morning edition, 10:23 AM EDT · no human byline

Disclosure. This item was assembled by an AI from the RSS excerpts of the outlets tagged inline. No human wrote or checked it before publication. Feed selection and categories are editorial choices by Teresa Lo. Nothing here is investment advice.

What happened

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to advance in the US Senate app.dealroom.co. Two days later, Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong said he was moving past the bill's failure, telling an interviewer "there's another path" finance.yahoo.com.

The US securities regulator then rolled out a five-year exemption for tokenized stock trading, freeing the activity from many of the rules that apply to the Nasdaq and the NYSE reuters.comthestandard.com.hk. DeFi Rate described the measure as an innovation exemption issued as the CLARITY Act failed defirate.com. Bloomberg reported that the plan is part of the SEC's efforts to open up crypto trading in the US, and framed it as crypto finding a way around the will of Congress bloomberg.com. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said his agency is ready to ship crypto rules under existing authority finance.biggo.com. Armstrong responded "Go time" after the two agencies pledged to write crypto rules independently following the failed vote 247wallst.com.

Why it matters to investors

The market read the legislative failure as a cost, not a reprieve. Coinbase Global fell 5.8% after the bill stalled, with SEC and CFTC oversight looming app.dealroom.co.

The substitution of agency rulemaking for legislation carries its own risk. JPMorgan analysts led by Kenneth Worthington warned that agency crypto rules lack durability after the CLARITY Act's failure tradingview.com. That is the central trade-off: firms get a usable framework now, on terms that a later administration or a court could unwind tradingview.combloomberg.com.

What to watch

The bill is not formally dead. Seven Democrats are pushing forward on the CLARITY Act despite the latest Senate setback, and Armstrong said talks could continue crypto-economy.com. Tekedia reported that the bill stalled over ethics and stablecoin roadblocks, with attention drawn by the Trump family's involvement in World Liberty Financial and other crypto ventures tekedia.com. The contentious issues that killed the bill included stablecoin yields and anti-money-laundering provisions tradingview.com.

Three things will show whether the agency route works. The first is how far the five-year exemption actually reaches into trading that would otherwise sit under national exchange rules reuters.comthestandard.com.hk. The second is whether the CFTC follows through on writing rules under existing authority, as Selig said it would finance.biggo.com. The third is whether the durability problem JPMorgan identified is tested in court before Congress returns to the question tradingview.comcrypto-economy.com.

Sources

  1. reuters.com: US securities regulator rolls out five-year exemption for tokenized stock trading - Reuters (2026-09-17)
  2. thestandard.com.hk: US securities regulator rolls out five-year exemption for tokenized stock trading (2026-09-17)
  3. bloomberg.com: Crypto Finds an Innovative Way Around the Will of Congress - Bloomberg.com (2026-09-18)
  4. finance.biggo.com: SEC Opens Temporary Path for Tokenized Stocks After Senate Blocks Crypto Bill (2026-09-17)
  5. defirate.com: SEC Issues Innovation Exemption as CLARITY Act Fails - DeFi Rate (2026-09-18)
  6. finance.yahoo.com: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is moving past the Clarity Act's failure: 'There's another path' (2026-09-17)
  7. app.dealroom.co: Coinbase falls 5.8% as US crypto rules bill stalls, SEC and CFTC oversight looms (2026-09-17)
  8. tradingview.com: JPMorgan warns agency crypto rules lack durability after CLARITY Act failure - TradingView (2026-09-17)
  9. tekedia.com: CLARITY Act Stalls in Senate as Crypto Regulation Hits Ethics and Stablecoin Roadblocks (2026-09-17)
  10. 247wallst.com: The SEC and CFTC Say They Will Write Crypto Rules Without Congress. What Atkins and ... (2026-09-17)
  11. crypto-economy.com: Seven Democrats Push Forward on CLARITY Act Despite Latest Senate Setback (2026-09-17)