The regulatory landscape of the US crypto industry is changing. Since the second year of the Trump administration, the long-standing jurisdictional disputes between the SEC and CFTC have gradually diminished, and the two agencies are beginning to form an unprecedented cooperative situation. A clearer "dual-track regulation" pattern is emerging.

**SEC's New Approach: Prioritizing Institutional Innovation**

Since taking office, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has changed many previous practices. In the review documents for the 2026 fiscal year, the SEC for the first time did not list cryptocurrencies as a separate risk category — this is not neglect, but a signal: digital assets are being regarded as a routine part of mature financial markets.

Gensler's promoted "Token Classification System" is particularly noteworthy. The core issue this system aims to address is: how should different types of digital assets be regulated? By establishing clear classification standards, it can help innovative projects avoid detours. Meanwhile, the SEC has approved various crypto ETFs for listing, and asset tokenization has also been included as a future regulatory focus. All these measures are aimed at one goal: providing the industry with a clear regulatory roadmap.

**CFTC's Acceleration: From Futures to Spot Markets**

The CFTC is also speeding up. The "Crypto Sprint" plan promoted by new Chairman Rostin Behnam is gradually being implemented, and legislative progress in Congress indicates that digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have commodity attributes, are very likely to be explicitly included in the CFTC's regulatory scope for spot markets. This means the CFTC's role in the crypto market will be much more significant than in the past.

**What Are the Practical Impacts?**

By 2026, this division of labor—"SEC responsible for institutional innovation, CFTC leading market expansion"—may become the new normal. Compared to the previous passive regulation relying on enforcement, a rule-based, clearly divided approach will significantly reduce industry uncertainty. This is highly attractive to institutional investors — their biggest fear is unpredictable regulation. Once rules are clear, barriers to large-scale capital entry will be greatly lowered, and the overall compliant ecosystem of the crypto market can also grow accordingly.