According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the United States is “nearer than ever before” in developing a clearer regulatory framework for encrypted assets after a week of successive regulatory meetings in Washington. However, the regulatory bodies are still giving mainly interpretative guidance, and what really determines the stability of the rules remains the parliamentary legislative process.

Participation in CFTC Advisory Committee meetings

Garlinghouse participated in the inaugural meeting of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Advisory Committee on Innovation on 20 August. The participants also included heads of institutions such as Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, CME Group, NASDAQ and Cboe Global Markets.

He then said that it was difficult to cover digital assets and other new technologies in past rules for traditional finance. This statement reflects more of the industry ' s expectations of regulatory renewal and does not mean that federal law has been adjusted.

SEC and CFTC have given a class calibration

Garlinghouse's optimistic judgment, partly from the joint explanatory paper released by SEC and CFTC in March this year. The document divides the tokens into five categories, including digital goods, digital collections, digital tools, stable currencies and digital securities, and also covers airdrops, mining, pledge and token sealing.

However, this document is a regulatory guide and not a federal law passed by Congress. The courts are not obliged to adopt it, and the subsequent supervisory hierarchy may be modified or withdrawn. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also referred to it as the starting point for regulatory work rather than the final arrangement.

September 15th, 60th threshold.

The current point of greater interest is the advancement of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the Senate. It is planned that the Senate will vote on the motion to initiate deliberations on September 15th, i.e. a procedural vote.

This vote required 60 senators to enter the formal stage of consideration and was not equivalent to the final passage of the bill. Even though the process has passed, it will be followed by debate, amendment and further voting.

  • There's still a disagreement about a stable currency incentive.
  • DeFi, no agreement on a protection clause.
  • Illicit funds control and consumer protection remain to be coordinated

Ripple, the verdict continues.

Garlinghouse also referred to the long-standing actions of Ripple and SEC and re-emphasized that in 2023 the Court had ruled that XRP itself did not constitute security. This decision, however, is primarily for the specific transaction circumstances of the case and does not establish uniform legal standards for all future XRP sales.

In the end result, Ripple still has to pay $125.4 million in civil fines, while remaining bound by the ban on the registration of securities. By 2025, SEC and Ripple had withdrawn their cross-appeals, which meant that the judgement would remain in force.

Next, the market paid more attention to the September 15th Senate vote. If 60 votes are not obtained, the United States regulatory framework for encryption at the federal level will in the short term continue to rely primarily on existing guidance from the SEC and the CTC, rather than more stable statutory law.