SEC's Atkins backs Clarity Act but says agency will keep pushing crypto rules without it - CoinDesk

The SEC's approach to crypto regulation is taking shape on two tracks at once. According to CoinDesk, SEC Chair Paul Atkins has expressed support for the Clarity Act, a market-structure bill that would draw clearer lines between which digital assets count as securities and which fall under commodities oversight. At the same time, he indicated the agency won't wait on Congress — it will continue advancing crypto rules through its own rulemaking and guidance regardless of whether the legislation passes.

That dual posture matters for market participants because it signals regulatory momentum is unlikely to stall even if the bill's timeline slips. A legislative framework could offer more durable, industry-wide certainty than agency action alone, since rules written by the SEC can shift with new leadership. Agency-led guidance, meanwhile, can move faster but may cover narrower ground.

What to watch: the Clarity Act's progress through Congress, the substance of any SEC proposals or no-action positions, and how courts treat the boundary between securities and commodities. For now, the direction of travel is toward more defined oversight — the question is which channel delivers it first.