French Hill says SEC and CFTC crypto rules are no substitute for the CLARITY Act
The House Financial Services chair argues agency rulemaking can be undone, while a statute cannot be reversed as easily
Rep. French Hill has a message for crypto’s regulators: thanks for the effort, but it isn’t enough.
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 real law would deliver. His preferred fix is still the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, better known as the CLARITY Act, even after the Senate turned it away last month.
What Hill actually said
Hill’s core complaint is durability. Agencies can write rules, and agencies can rewrite them.
A statute is a different animal. He framed congressional action as a “permanent law change”, in contrast to agency policies that can be reversed.
Hill argued that regulatory policy is exposed to whoever controls the executive branch. A new administration can bring new priorities, and with them, new rules for the same industry.
He also pointed out that the SEC and CFTC have floated different approaches depending on which part of the digital asset market is involved. Those proposals, Hill said, still don’t deliver the clarity and stability the industry needs to grow.
How the CLARITY Act stalled
The bill hit a wall in the Senate in mid-September 2026. The vote was 49-50, with 60 votes needed to move it forward.
Rather than wait on Congress, the regulators moved. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig announced plans to pursue rulemaking using the authority their agencies already hold.
The news moving money, markets, and the world—before your day starts.
Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy.
Hill still thinks Congress could get the CLARITY Act done in the upcoming lame-duck session, the window when outgoing lawmakers remain in office before a new Congress is seated. He remains hopeful about that path, despite the September defeat.
The calendar is not generous. Only 22 Senate session days remain for the current Congress before it adjourns in 2027.
A thin bench at the regulators
There is another wrinkle in the agency-led approach. As of October 7, 2026, the SEC and CFTC had seven leadership vacancies between them.
That count includes the recent resignation of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who had long been one of the most prominent crypto voices at the agency.
What this means for the market
Without a statute like the CLARITY Act, firms may keep facing uncertainty over compliance and day-to-day operations.
The segment-by-segment approach Hill described raises a separate concern. If the SEC and CFTC each handle different slices of the market in different ways, the result could be fragmented standards rather than one coherent rulebook.
The watch list for the coming months is short. First, whether the CLARITY Act gets another shot in the lame-duck session, and whether supporters can find the votes they lacked in September.
Second, how fast Atkins and Selig advance their rulemaking, and what those proposals look like for each market segment.
Third, how the seven open leadership seats get filled. New appointees could accelerate, slow, or redirect the agencies’ crypto agenda.
Congressional action remains a major variable for market sentiment and stability in digital asset trading. With 22 Senate session days left and a 49-50 loss still fresh, Hill is betting that lawmakers can deliver what regulators alone cannot.