CFTC Crypto Rule After the CLARITY Act Vote: What Holders Should Know

On September 15, the Senate blocked the CLARITY Act, the crypto market structure bill, by a vote of 49 to 50. The vote was filmed from every angle. Much less attention went to what America’s commodity regulator filed two days later.

That filing sits on a White House website, and the regulator behind it had already put XRP’s name in writing back in March. Here is what happened, what the filing is, and what it means for holders while the rules get written.

What happened in the Senate vote?

The CLARITY Act did not advance. On September 15, the Senate voted on a motion that needed 60 votes just to begin debating the bill. It received 49 yeas and 50 nays, so it did not even reach a simple majority, and the motion was not agreed to.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted the same afternoon. His first line was “This one stinks.” Further down his thread, he said the SEC and the CFTC would continue to work to issue rules to fill the legislative gap.

Which regulator oversees XRP?

According to a joint document from both agencies, XRP falls on the CFTC’s side. A simple way to think of the two regulators:

• The SEC oversees shares and investment schemes.
• The CFTC oversees commodities such as gold, oil and wheat.

For years, the fight over XRP was about which of these referees it belonged to. On March 17, the SEC and CFTC released a joint document. On page 14 is a list of 16 coins the agencies called digital commodities. The list is alphabetical, so XRP is the last name on it.

CFTC Chair Mike Selig called the document “a massive shift in the regulatory landscape for crypto,” saying that for a long time market participants had been afraid to build in the United States.

What did the CFTC say it would do without a bill?

Selig said publicly, weeks before the vote, that the CFTC would write crypto market rules whether or not Congress passed a bill. In August, he said the president had promised market structure for the crypto industry, “and that’s what we’re going to do whether we have a bill or not.”

He described the plan in more detail at his agency. He had directed CFTC staff to begin exploring rules to set up a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency’s existing authorities, meaning powers Congress already gave it. That could allow both current registrants and crypto exchanges that are not yet registered to be designated as a type of designated contract market (DCM), which he called a “crypto asset market.”

In a Bloomberg interview, he added: “If we have to utilize that authority to create rules without the supporting legislation, we’ll do it.” The day after the vote, the CFTC’s account posted that it was “locked in and ready to ship” its rules.

Wall Street read it the same way. According to coverage cited in the video, Bernstein analysts said after the failed vote to expect “aggressive and swift” rulemaking from the SEC and CFTC.

What did the CFTC file two days after the vote?

On September 17, the CFTC filed a crypto markets rule for White House review. It appears on reginfo.gov, the site the White House’s regulatory office uses to track rules. A rule like this has to stop there for review before it can be published. The listing shows:

Field	What it says
Agency	CFTC
Tracking number (RIN)	3038-AF80
Subject	Regulation of crypto asset transactions and crypto asset markets
Received	September 17
Stage	Pre-rule
Status at recording	Under review

“Crypto asset markets” matches the phrase Selig used in August. The draft is not public while the White House has it, so nobody outside knows its contents yet. The video declines to guess.

What does “pre-rule” mean?

“Pre-rule” is the word most people skip, and it tells you what happens next. It means this is the step before a formal proposal. From here the process normally runs in this order:

1. The White House clears the filing.
2. The CFTC publishes it.
3. Anyone, including ordinary holders, can read it and send in comments.
4. The CFTC issues an actual proposed rule.
5. Another round of public comments.
6. The final rule.

When the reginfo.gov listing changes from pending review to concluded, that is the signal that publication is close. The agency has not paused in the meantime: on September 24, CFTC staff put out updated crypto guidance for the firms it already oversees.

Is a rule as strong as a law?

No. A rule from an agency is not a law, and a future government can try to change it. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, asked about this the day after the vote, said a future administration could try to create a different rule, “but they would have to go through a similar rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act.”

Selig has made a related point: once rulemaking is joint between agencies, “it’s much harder to get multiple agencies to undo something.” The March document naming XRP was signed off by both. The video’s summary: a law would have been sturdier, but this is not written in pencil either.

On Schwab Network, as the result came in, a commentator called the vote a delay and a setback rather than a derailment, noting that SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Selig had both said each regulator would proceed with crypto rulemaking regardless of the outcome.

What it means for your XRP while the rules are written

The video’s point is that the rulebook did not die. It moved to a regulator that already lists XRP as a digital commodity. But every step in the list above takes time, and coins sitting in an app do nothing through all of it.

It suggests a quick check. Open whatever app holds your XRP and look for anything that says “earn”, “rewards” or “interest”:

• If there’s nothing, those coins have done nothing through every headline this year.
• If there is, check who actually holds the coins while they earn. Celsius customers were earning right up until June 12, 2022, when Celsius paused every withdrawal.

The video leaves holders with three questions:

1. Where does your XRP sit while the rules are written, and who holds the keys?
2. Is it doing anything while this works through, or just parked?
3. Will you have a plan before the rule is public, or decide after everyone else has read it?

What to watch next

The next date that matters is the CFTC filing clearing White House review and being published. You can search reginfo.gov for RIN 3038-AF80 and check its status yourself. After that, watch for the comment period and the formal proposed rule, and whether Congress makes another attempt at a market structure bill.