Crypto & digital assets

Current understanding

Federal rulemaking and enforcement on cryptocurrency and digital-asset markets.

Evidence log

• 2026-11-09 — Threshold for the Requirement To Collect, Retain, and Transmit Information on Funds Transfers and Transmittals of Funds That Begin or End Outside the United States, and Clarification of the Requirement To Collect, Retain, and Transmit Information on Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies and Digital Assets With Legal Tender Status; Withdrawal: FinCEN and the Federal Reserve withdrew their 2020 proposal to lower international funds-transfer Recordkeeping and Travel Rule thresholds from $3,000 to $250 and clarify coverage of convertible virtual currencies and digital assets with legal tender status, leaving existing requirements unchanged. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-09-16 — Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act: House committee voted 38–5 to advance a substitute Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, adding a fifth tax-track digital-asset bill (alongside the PARITY, Anti-Abuse, Charitable Deductions, and Voluntary Disclosure bills) and marking the first of the group to clear a committee markup. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-10-13 — Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets: CFTC issued an advance notice seeking public comment on prospective ‘Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions’ and ‘Regulation Crypto Asset Markets’ under the CEA’s retail commodity transaction authority, opening a CFTC-side framework-building track alongside the SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets proposal. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-10-23 — Implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act for the Issuance of Stablecoins by Entities Subject to the Jurisdiction of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: OCC proposed GENIUS Act implementing rules governing payment stablecoin issuance and related activities by national banks and other OCC-supervised entities, adding the OCC-charter layer to the inter-agency stablecoin stack alongside the FDIC, NCUA, Fed, and Treasury proposals. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-08 — Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act: Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act introduced in the House, adding another tax-committee-track digital-asset bill — this one extending general federal tax anti-abuse rules (e.g., wash-sale-type doctrines) to cryptocurrency and other digital assets. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-08 — Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act: Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act introduced in the House, adding another tax-committee-track digital-asset bill — this one aimed at the charitable-deduction treatment of cryptocurrency and other digital-asset donations. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-08 — Digital Assets Voluntary Disclosure Program Act: Digital Assets Voluntary Disclosure Program Act introduced in the House and referred to Ways and Means, adding another tax-committee-track digital-asset bill — this one creating a voluntary disclosure pathway for previously unreported digital-asset activity. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-19 — Digital Asset PARITY Act: H.R. 8899, the Digital Asset PARITY Act, was introduced in the House and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, adding a tax-committee-track digital-asset bill alongside the Banking/Financial Services pipeline. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-09-29 — Implementing the Federal Reserve Board’s Responsibilities Under the GENIUS Act: 2026 — Federal Reserve proposed its GENIUS Act implementing rules for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers, adding a Fed layer to the inter-agency stablecoin stack and introducing a cross-issuer prohibition on tying stablecoins to other products. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-09-29 — Application Procedures for Board-Supervised Insured Depository Institutions Seeking Approval for a Subsidiary To Issue Payment Stablecoins: Federal Reserve proposed subsidiary-issuer application procedures for Board-supervised insured state member banks seeking to issue payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, adding the Fed’s procedural layer to the inter-agency stablecoin supervisory stack. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-10-06 — Proposal of Special Measure Regarding Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing, as a Class of Transactions of Primary Money Laundering Concern; Withdrawal: FinCEN withdrew its 2023 proposed Section 311 special measure that would have designated international convertible virtual currency mixing as a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern, abandoning class-wide recordkeeping and reporting requirements on mixer-related activity. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-10-06 — Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currency or Digital Assets; Withdrawal: FinCEN withdrew its proposed rule that would have imposed recordkeeping, reporting, and customer-identity verification requirements on banks and money transmitters for convertible virtual currency transactions involving unhosted wallets or wallets in certain foreign jurisdictions, abandoning a signature Trump-era crypto AML proposal. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-10-06 — Adviser and Regulated Fund Custody Rules; Crypto Custody Rules: SEC proposed adviser and fund custody rules that would, for the first time, specify how investment advisers and mutual funds must hold client cryptocurrency, extending the custody perimeter into digital-asset markets. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-08-18 — GENIUS Act Regulations on Payment Stablecoin Issuance, Offer, and Sale: Treasury proposed GENIUS Act section 3 rules governing who may issue, offer, or sell payment stablecoins in the U.S., adding the core issuer-eligibility layer atop the parallel OCC/FDIC/FinCEN/OFAC/NCUA AML and issuer-supervision proposals. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-08-21 — Regulation Crypto Assets: SEC proposed ‘Regulation Crypto Assets,’ introducing a tiered offering exemption (up to $5M over four years or $75M per year) for crypto investment contracts and a safe harbor that could exclude some crypto assets from the ‘investment contract’ definition, potentially reshaping token issuance and securities classification. (novelty: 4)
• 2025-12-10 — SAFE Crypto Act: S.3428 (SAFE Crypto Act) introduced in the 119th Congress, read twice, and referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, adding another Senate crypto-focused bill to the referral pipeline without yet disclosing substantive regulatory text. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-03-25 — Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act: S1124 (Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act) introduced, which would statutorily prohibit Federal Reserve banks from offering products/services or maintaining accounts for individuals and bar the Fed from issuing, testing, studying, or using a CBDC for monetary policy. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-05-21 — Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act of 2025: Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act of 2025 introduced, which would statutorily bar the President, VP, Members of Congress, and their immediate family from controlling, issuing, sponsoring, promoting, mining, or trading digital assets (including via intermediaries) while in office, with civil fines and criminal penalties. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-27 — Digital Equities and No Automatic Disqualifications Act: S5140 (Digital Equities and No Automatic Disqualifications Act) introduced and referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, signaling continued Senate interest in tokenized/digital equity frameworks alongside anti-disqualification provisions. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-02-02 — Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act: S3755, the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act, was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders as Calendar No. 312, advancing a digital-commodity intermediary framework to floor-eligible status without yet enacting substantive market-structure provisions. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-04-10 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Internal Revenue Service relating to “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales”.: Public Law 119-5 enacted, nullifying under the Congressional Review Act the IRS ‘Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales’ rule and eliminating the broker reporting obligation for DeFi front-ends and service providers effectuating digital-asset sales. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-03-12 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Internal Revenue Service relating to “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales”.: CRA joint resolution introduced to nullify the IRS ‘Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales’ rule, which would remove tax-reporting obligations for DeFi front-ends and service providers effectuating digital-asset sales. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-05 — Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act: Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act introduced, which — alongside FISA Section 702 reauthorization provisions — would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing or testing a central bank digital currency, foreclosing a U.S. CBDC pathway. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-11 — Stop Crypto ATM Scams Act: HR9268 (Stop Crypto ATM Scams Act) introduced, proposing new consumer-protection restrictions on cryptocurrency ATM operators to address scam and fraud typologies targeting kiosk users. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-18 — Implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act for the Issuance of Stablecoins by Entities Subject to the Jurisdiction of the National Credit Union Administration: NCUA proposed rules implementing the GENIUS Act for credit union subsidiary Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers, adding the credit union charter to the set of federally supervised pathways for stablecoin issuance and introducing tokenized share concepts into NCUSIF-insured deposits. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-22 — Integrating Financial Technology Innovation Into Regulatory Frameworks: EO on Restoring Financial System Integrity directs integration of fintech innovation into existing regulatory frameworks, potentially affecting how digital-asset activities are supervised across agencies. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-05 — Bank Secrecy Act and Sanctions Compliance Standards for FDIC-Supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers: FDIC proposed BSA and sanctions compliance standards for FDIC-supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers under the GENIUS Act, completing the inter-agency AML perimeter for stablecoin issuers alongside the parallel OCC/FinCEN/OFAC proposal. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-22 — Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer Customer Identification Program: Proposed joint FinCEN/federal banking regulator rule would require Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers to implement Bank Secrecy Act Customer Identification Programs, marking the first CIP framework tailored to a digital-asset issuer category. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-24 — Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Sanctions Compliance Risk Management: OCC, FinCEN, and OFAC jointly proposed AML/CFT and sanctions compliance risk-management rules for Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers under the GENIUS Act, creating the first bespoke BSA/AML framework for this new category of regulated digital-asset entity. (novelty: 4)
• 2026-06-24 — Joint Request for Comment on Further Definition of “Swap” and “Security-Based Swap” and on Alternative Compliance: cross-connection with swap-security-based-swap-definitions: Definitional line between swaps and security-based swaps is central to classifying crypto-linked derivatives products under CFTC vs. SEC jurisdiction. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-25 — Definition of Huione Group, a Financial Institution Operating Outside the United States of Primary Money Laundering Concern: FinCEN proposed (2024) expanding the Huione Group Section 311 primary-money-laundering-concern designation to include subsidiary H-Pay Service PLC and to add a ‘successor entity’ definition, tightening the perimeter of the existing correspondent-account special measure against a crypto-adjacent payments network. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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