French Hill wants a crypto statute because a new administration could undo SEC and CFTC rules
French Hill, the House Financial Services chair, says SEC and CFTC crypto rules fall short of the CLARITY Act the Senate blocked 49-50 last month. His case is that a later administration can rewrite rules issued under existing agency authority, while a statute would hold.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig pressed ahead with crypto rulemaking after the vote, at President Trump's direction, Cointelegraph reported.
- Hill wrote FIT21 in the previous Congress and the CLARITY Act in this one, and pointed to both bills in his Fox Business interview.
- The lame-duck session Hill is counting on has only 22 Senate session days before the current Congress adjourns in 2027.
- As of October 7 the SEC and CFTC had seven leadership vacancies between them, a count that includes Commissioner Hester Peirce's recent resignation.
Why it matters
- Who's exposed exposure Compliance work built on an exemption rests on relief that a court or a successor commission can withdraw, a reversal risk a statute would not carry.
- Who has to decide decision The seven nominations let the White House speed up, slow or redirect the agencies' crypto agenda without any vote in Congress.
- What doesn't add up contradiction Hill's push for a statute runs against the industry view, as Decrypt described it, that crypto has learned to lean on regulators instead of Congress.
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Hill's objection is about who can undo a rule. He argued that regulatory policy is exposed to whoever controls the executive branch, and that a new administration can bring new rules for the same industry [11]. "In my judgement, these regulatory policies fall short of what we have to do, which is have a legislative solution," he said [2].
Little of what a firm would build compliance around is final. Of the four agency actions Decrypt listed, one is in force [21]: the SEC's innovation exemption for tokenized stocks [15]. The SEC's rules for how investment advisers and funds custody crypto are still proposals [15]. The CFTC has sent its crypto-markets rulemakings to the White House and has only floated a plan to bring crypto exchanges under federal oversight [16]. Hill said the two agencies have taken different approaches depending on the part of the market involved [17]. The CLARITY Act would have drawn the jurisdictional line between them [18].
The bench writing those rules is small. Atkins and Mark Uyeda are the SEC's only commissioners and Selig is the CFTC's only one [9], so three of the ten leadership seats across the two agencies are filled [20]. Decrypt reported that exemptions and guidance can be challenged in court as well as unwound by a later administration [12].
If Hill gets his lame-duck vote [10], the bill needs at least 11 more yes votes than the 49 it drew in September [19], on a short calendar. Cointelegraph noted that senators in that session will vote knowing whether they are returning to Congress or leaving in January [13]. If the bill stays stalled, the agency rules are the regime for as long as their authors hold their seats and the White House keeps its direction. If the vacancies are filled first, the new commissioners inherit a set of mostly unfinished rules [21].
I'd expect the stalled-bill case. Eleven votes is a large gap for a bill that lost last month, and the bill's author is the person with the most reason to say otherwise [6]. A cloture vote clearing 60 before the new Congress is seated would prove that view wrong [4].
He still credits the regulators. He said Atkins and Selig "have taken steps to use their regulatory power, their exemptive relief, to give definition to digital assets and digital commodities, so we can have a functional system here in the U.S. for this innovative form of finance" [7]. What he wants on top of that is a rule a successor cannot rewrite with a new exemption. "We need that permanent law change to make sure America is number one in digital assets and blockchain technology," he said [3].
What to watch
- Whether the CLARITY Act gets a lame-duck cloture vote, and whether it clears 60 after drawing 49 in September.
- Who the White House nominates to the seven empty SEC and CFTC seats, and whether new commissioners keep the exemption-led approach.
- Whether the SEC finalizes its crypto custody proposal and the CFTC's crypto-markets rulemakings clear White House review.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Rep. French Hill, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said in an October 7, 2026 interview that recent SEC and CFTC moves on digital assets fall short of what a law would deliver, and still prefers the CLARITY Act after the Senate turned it away.
- [2]
"In my judgement, these regulatory policies fall short of what we have to do, which is have a legislative solution," Hill said in a Fox Business interview.
- [3]
"We need that permanent law change to make sure America is number one in digital assets and blockchain technology," Hill said.
- [4]
The CLARITY Act failed in the Senate in mid-September 2026 on a 49-50 vote, with 60 votes needed to move it forward.
- [5]
Only 22 Senate session days remain for the current Congress before it adjourns in 2027.
- [6]
Hill pointed to his own authorship of FIT21 in the previous Congress and the Clarity Act in this one.
- [7]
Hill said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Mike Selig "have taken steps to use their regulatory power, their exemptive relief, to give definition to digital assets and digital commodities, so we can have a functional system here in the U.S. for this innovative form of finance."
- [8]
As of October 7, 2026, the SEC and CFTC had seven leadership vacancies between them, a count that includes the recent resignation of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.
- [9]
Peirce's resignation left only Chair Atkins and Mark Uyeda at the SEC; Selig serves as chair and sole commissioner at the CFTC.
- [10]
Hill still thinks Congress could get the CLARITY Act done in the upcoming lame-duck session.
- [11]
Hill argued that regulatory policy is exposed to whoever controls the executive branch, and that a new administration can bring new priorities and new rules for the same industry.
- [12]
Exemptions and guidance can be challenged in court or unwound by a future administration, whereas a statute is durable.
- [13]
During the lame-duck session, election results could play a role in votes on CLARITY, as lawmakers will know whether they are returning to Congress or leaving in January.
- [14]
SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig announced plans to move forward with crypto regulation at the direction of US President Donald Trump.
- [15]
The SEC rolled out an innovation exemption for tokenized stocks and proposed new rules for how investment advisers and funds can custody crypto.
- [16]
The CFTC sent crypto-markets rulemakings to the White House and floated a plan to bring crypto exchanges under federal oversight.
- [17]
Hill said the SEC and CFTC have floated different approaches depending on which part of the digital asset market is involved.
- [18]
The CLARITY Act would have cleared up the jurisdictional lines between the CFTC and the SEC on digital assets.
- [19]
Reviving the CLARITY Act requires at least 11 more yes votes than the 49 it received in September.
- [20]
Three of the ten leadership seats across the SEC and CFTC are filled.
- [21]
Of the four agency crypto actions Decrypt listed, one (the SEC's tokenized-stock innovation exemption) is in force; the other three are proposed, under White House review, or floated.
- [22]
New appointees to the open SEC and CFTC seats could accelerate, slow, or redirect the agencies' crypto agenda.
- [23]
After the Senate vote, many in the industry concluded that crypto had stopped waiting on Congress and learned to lean on the regulators instead.
Sources
5 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cointelegraph.comHouse Finance panel chair says regulator actions on crypto ‘fall short’ of CLARITY bill
1 article · October 7, 2026
- crypto.newsFrench Hill says SEC and CFTC crypto rules fall short of legislation
1 article · October 7, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comFrench Hill says SEC and CFTC crypto rules are no substitute for the CLARITY Act
1 article · October 7, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comFrench Hill says agency crypto rules cannot replace CLARITY Act
1 article · October 7, 2026
- decrypt.coSEC and CFTC Crypto Rules 'Fall Short' of Clarity, Says Rep. French Hill
1 article · October 7, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- US Crypto Market Structure Legislation
- U.S. agency crypto rulemaking