Crypto regulations advance as CFTC moves ahead after Congress’s crypto bill stalls

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Cryptocurrency markets absorbed a wave of regulatory news on September 25, 2026, as three separate storylines collided within days of each other. According to a rundown published by BitGo, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission pushed forward with new efforts to regulate digital assets, SoFi and Mastercard rolled out a stablecoin settlement system aimed at traditional payment rails, and the state of New York filed suit against prediction-market platform Polymarket. Together, the developments show how fast U.S. crypto regulatory advances are unfolding even as Congress remains stalled on comprehensive legislation.

Key takeaways

The CFTC has advanced its efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies, a move that followed the collapse of the Clarity Act in the Senate.
SoFi and Mastercard launched a stablecoin settlement system on September 25, 2026, described as a step toward integrating digital currencies into traditional finance.
New York state sued Polymarket, accusing it of running an unlicensed gambling platform, while Polymarket points to CFTC jurisdiction over prediction markets as its defense.

CFTC Advances Regulatory Efforts on Cryptocurrencies

The CFTC’s push to write new crypto rules is a direct response to Congress failing to pass a market-structure bill, and it signals that regulators are no longer waiting for lawmakers to act. Just two days after the Senate blocked the Clarity Act, the agency submitted a crypto rulemaking proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, according to CNBC. The contents of that proposal have not been made public, but a posting on the federal government’s regulatory information site confirmed it was under review.

Regulatory Push After the Clarity Act Stalled

The Clarity Act would have divided oversight of digital commodities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC. When the Senate blocked the measure, short of the sixty votes required, both agencies moved to use their existing authority instead. The SEC had already issued an order days earlier creating a temporary pathway for trading certain tokenized stocks, edging financial markets closer to round-the-clock trading, CNBC reported.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig addressed the shift directly, saying that “President Trump promised to deliver a future-proof crypto asset regulatory market structure one way or the other, and we will help him get the job done using our existing statutory authorities.” Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former CFTC commissioner, told CNBC that regulatory uncertainty has been holding back traditional finance from adopting blockchain technology, adding that clearer rules “is going to really open up the industry to more investment, more integration into traditional finance, and really grow the sector.”

SoFi and Mastercard Launch Stablecoin Settlement System

SoFi and Mastercard’s new stablecoin settlement system marks one of the clearest examples yet of a mainstream financial company building stablecoin infrastructure directly into its payment network. The launch, confirmed on the same day as the CFTC’s regulatory moves, ties a consumer fintech brand and a global card network to digital-currency rails in a way that had mostly stayed confined to crypto-native platforms.

A Step Toward Integrating Digital Currencies into Traditional Finance

Framed by BitGo as a notable step in bringing digital currencies into traditional financial networks, the SoFi-Mastercard system arrives at a moment when regulators are simultaneously loosening the path for crypto products inside conventional finance. This kind of stablecoin settlement, paired with the CFTC’s parallel rulemaking push, appears consistent with a broader pattern: digital currencies gaining acceptance inside payment systems that were built long before blockchain technology existed. Whether that translates into wider adoption will likely depend on how quickly other payment networks follow suit.

New York Sues Polymarket Over Unlicensed Gambling Claims

New York’s lawsuit against Polymarket puts a spotlight on one of the thorniest unresolved questions in U.S. crypto regulations: who actually has authority over prediction markets. The state accuses Polymarket of operating as an unlicensed gambling service, a claim that strikes at the core of how the platform structures its markets on real-world events.

Polymarket’s Defense: CFTC Jurisdiction Over Prediction Markets

Polymarket’s counter-argument rests on the position that the CFTC, not individual states, holds jurisdiction over its prediction-market products. That defense mirrors a fight playing out at the federal level, where a coalition of state attorneys general recently urged the Senate Banking Committee to reject the Clarity Act on the grounds that it would strip states of their power to police securities markets. The attorneys general wrote that they wanted to “expressly preserve the police powers of the states” so states could keep protecting residents from “predatory scammers.” New York’s case against Polymarket suggests that same jurisdictional tension is now playing out directly in court, and the outcome could set a precedent for how prediction markets are treated across other states.

Market Context: Inflation, the Fed, and Bitcoin’s Price Path

All three regulatory storylines are unfolding against a backdrop of inflation concerns and a shifting interest-rate outlook, both of which are shaping how investors read crypto’s next move.

Bitcoin movements have reflected broader market dynamics as regulatory developments unfold. Investors continue to monitor both inflation data and Federal Reserve communications, which remain key variables for Bitcoin’s price trajectory in the weeks ahead.