US Crypto Regulatory Environment to Undergo Significant Changes in 2026

The US crypto regulatory environment is expected to undergo significant changes in 2026, with various policy changes and legislation taking effect. The inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January 2025 marked a shift in the administration's policies towards digital assets, with a focus on establishing clear and transparent regulatory frameworks.

Digital Asset Market Structure

The US Senate has yet to vote on legislation to establish clear regulatory guidelines for digital assets, despite the House of Representatives passing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) in July. The Senate is considering two draft bills, one from the Senate Banking Committee and another from the Senate Agriculture Committee, which would grant the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more authority to regulate digital assets.

According to digital asset management company Grayscale, the bill will facilitate deeper integration between public blockchains and traditional finance, facilitate regulated trading of digital asset securities, and potentially allow for on-chain issuance by both startups and mature firms.

Implementation of the GENIUS Stablecoin Act

The GENIUS Act, signed into law by President Trump in July 2025, aims to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The US Treasury Department has opened two rounds of comments for proposed rules related to the GENIUS Act, with a notice of proposed rulemaking expected in the first half of 2026.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, believes that as regulatory clarity solidifies, banks will increasingly explore on-chain tooling that could transform payments, settlements, and liquidity provisioning. Should major US banks begin issuing compliant stablecoins or tokenized deposits, we could see significant expansion of global liquidity, faster transaction settlement times, and richer DeFi composability built on regulated infrastructure.

CFTC Leadership Yet to be Named by Trump

The CFTC is currently led by acting chair Caroline Pham, with four out of the five commissioners stepping down in 2025. President Trump has nominated SEC official Michael Selig as CFTC chair, with his nomination advancing out of the Senate Agriculture Committee in November.

State-Level Crypto Reserves

Texas has become the first state to establish a crypto reserve, with a state-managed fund holding $5 million worth of shares in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF. Other states, such as Arizona and New Hampshire, have also signed legislation into law, with potential crypto purchases announced in the coming year as part of their governments' treasury strategy.

The US crypto regulatory environment is expected to continue evolving in 2026, with significant changes on the horizon. As regulatory clarity solidifies, we can expect to see increased participation from banks and other financial institutions, as well as the potential for state-level crypto reserves to expand.