The SEC and CFTC Say They Will Write Crypto Rules Without Congress. What Atkins and Selig Can Actually Do for XRP and Bitcoin. - Yahoo Finance

The prospect of U.S. crypto regulation being shaped by the SEC and CFTC rather than Congress marks a notable shift in how digital-asset oversight could evolve. When agencies write rules themselves, they rely on existing statutory authority—such as securities and commodities laws—rather than waiting for new legislation. That can mean faster movement, but also narrower scope and greater vulnerability to legal challenge.

For assets like Bitcoin and XRP, the practical effect depends on how each agency classifies them and what rulemaking it pursues. Bitcoin has generally been treated as a commodity, while XRP's status has been the subject of prolonged litigation. Agency-led rules could clarify registration, custody, and market-conduct expectations, but they cannot resolve every jurisdictional question on their own.

What to watch: formal rule proposals, public comment periods, and any court rulings that test the agencies' authority. Also relevant is whether Congress later codifies or overrides agency approaches. For market participants, the key takeaway is that regulatory clarity may arrive incrementally and unevenly across assets.