Regulation

Three separate moves landed in the same news cycle this week, and together they tell one story: the US crypto regulatory map is being redrawn in real time, and no single agency is driving the pen. The SEC canceled a key crypto regulatory meeting, the CFTC signaled it will join the SEC in exploring crypto rules without waiting for the CLARITY Act, and a crypto coalition threw its weight behind Custodia Bank in a Supreme Court fight over Federal Reserve master-account access. For US investors, the combined message is that jurisdiction, banking access, and tax reporting are all on the table at once. ...

On August 13, the City of Baltimore sued prediction-market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, opening what legal observers are calling the first case in which a US city government has taken prediction markets to court. The lawsuit pulls three of the biggest names in American retail investing into the fight, because Kalshi runs event-contract offerings through Coinbase, Robinhood, and Webull. For US crypto investors, the case matters far beyond one city: it will help decide whether sports-style event contracts belong under federal CFTC oversight or under a patchwork of state gaming laws. ...

The SEC has just dropped the agenda for its most anticipated meeting of the year: August 14, 2026 — a closed-door session where Commissioners will vote on a proposed framework tentatively titled “Regulation Crypto.” If adopted, it would create a bespoke token offering registration pathway, distinct from the existing securities registration regime that has been a square-peg-in-round-hole nightmare for crypto projects since 2017. For US crypto investors, the stakes could not be higher. This single meeting could determine which tokens remain listed on US exchanges, how your staking rewards are taxed, and whether the next wave of crypto innovation happens in New York or Singapore. ...

After three years of hearings, draft bills, and more industry lobbying than any financial legislation since Dodd-Frank, the US Crypto Clarity Act of 2026 has finally landed. Passed by the Senate in July and signed into law last week, it represents the most significant rewrite of US digital asset regulation in history. For the first time, there is a statutory line between what the SEC regulates and what falls under the CFTC. No more regulation-by-enforcement. No more guessing whether your favorite token is a security. And — critically — no more pretending the IRS doesn’t know about your crypto gains. ...