Aaron Kaplan, founder and co-CEO of regulated digital asset firm Prometheum, also expects business to continue. Broker-dealers are exploring crypto offerings for brokerage accounts, securities issuers are developing tokenization strategies and international trading venues are looking at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.’s (DTCC) tokenization service as a route to offering tokenized U.S. equities abroad, he said.
“The future of this industry isn’t about waiting for new legislation,” Kaplan said. “It’s about utilizing the securities laws we already have.”
Stablecoins offer another example of how earlier legislative progress could insulate parts of crypto from political change. The $GENIUS Act, which passed with bipartisan support in 2025, created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to back their tokens with liquid reserves and comply with federal or state oversight.
“$GENIUS passed with Democratic votes and takes effect on January 18, fifteen days after the new Congress is seated, so issuers have a statute to work from,” said Abhishek Vaidyanathan, chief legal officer of the NEAR Foundation.
“The rest of the market continues on existing law, interpretations and proposed rules,” he added.
SEC and CFTC rules face a durability test
U.S. regulatory agencies have spent much of 2026 developing rules without comprehensive legislation, filling the gaps left by Congress and the lack of broader digital asset rules.
