According to ChainCatcher, as the Trump administration enters its second year, the U.S. crypto regulatory landscape is undergoing a shift. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are moving from jurisdictional disputes to closer collaboration in advancing crypto regulation. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is advocating for a 'token classification system,' Project Crypto, and an innovative exemption mechanism. He has also approved standards for listing various crypto ETFs and prioritized asset tokenization as a regulatory focus.
The CFTC, under the leadership of newly appointed Chairman Michael Selig, is accelerating rule clarification through the 'Crypto Sprint' initiative and is expected to play a more central role in regulating crypto commodities like Bitcoin. Industry experts anticipate that by 2026, U.S. crypto regulation will feature a dual-track approach with SEC's institutional innovation and CFTC's market expansion leadership. Former SEC senior attorney Howard Fischer noted that this is the first time in his memory that the two agencies are advancing crypto regulation in such a highly collaborative manner, and he expects this cooperation to dominate the regulatory agenda in 2026.
