Written by: Luke, Mars Finance
Prologue: Clearing the Policy Legacies of the Old Era
On August 22, 2025, more than seven months have passed since the new government took office. Since January of this year, Washington's friendly stance toward the cryptocurrency industry has become a clear policy focus. However, despite the overall direction being set, the path of industry development still has obstacles left over from the previous administration. The 'enforcement-style regulation' strategy implemented by former SEC Chair Gary Gensler before his departure in January 2025 has left behind hidden reefs after the tide receded; its impact has weakened, but many unresolved lawsuits and unclear rule definitions are still constraining the potential of the industry.
Under Gary Gensler's era at the SEC, the core logic was to treat the vast majority of digital assets as securities and delineate boundaries through litigation rather than legislation. The legacy issues of this strategy are evident: industry leaders like Coinbase are still facing legal challenges, and the controversial (Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121) (SAB 121) restricts banks from providing large-scale cryptocurrency custody services, while developers and project parties still lack a clear and predictable 'safe harbor' definition of 'what constitutes a security.'
Therefore, for the cryptocurrency industry in 2025, the challenge is no longer to face a hostile regulatory body, but rather how to cooperate with a friendly government to efficiently 'dismantle the scaffolding of the old era' and quickly establish a clear and solid legal framework capable of supporting development over the next decade. The entire industry is awaiting a landmark event, a signal of acceleration from 'establishing a friendly stance' to 'fully laying down rules.'
Acceleration Moment: Washington's Collaborative Action
This signal was clearly received on August 22. This is not a sudden policy shift but rather a long-prepared collaborative action aimed at formalizing and systematizing friendly policies. The two major U.S. financial regulatory agencies—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—have announced, through a united action, the formal commencement of a 'great campaign' to build clear rules for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry.
CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham announced the launch of a new round of the 'Crypto Sprint Initiative.' Its core goal is to swiftly implement the recommendations in the President's Digital Asset Market Working Group report, establishing federal-level promotion of digital commodity spot trading as a 'top priority.' This marks the transition of regulatory agencies from the policy declaration stage to a comprehensive focus on efficient execution and implementation.
The SEC has also officially launched its grand plan—'Project Crypto.' This project aims to work alongside the CFTC to jointly design a regulatory system for the digital asset market that not only protects investors but also maximizes innovation vitality. Both agencies have spoken in unison, pointing to the presidential working group report titled (Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technology), indicating that all their actions will be carried out within a unified national strategic framework.
The significance of this collaborative action is profound: it means that regulatory agencies are no longer working independently but as a 'joint force' to address historical legacy issues and jointly build the future. This marks the formal transition of U.S. cryptocurrency regulation from 'rectifying past wrongs' to 'establishing regulations.'
New Policy Dual Heroes: The Blueprint of 'Sprint' and 'Planning'
'Crypto Sprint Initiative' and 'Project Crypto' are like two complementary forces, together constituting the core of this regulatory construction.
The CFTC's 'Crypto Sprint Initiative' is a pragmatic 'engineering corps,' focused on clearing the most critical pathways. Its core task is to establish a federally recognized compliant spot market for digital goods such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is the cornerstone of industry prosperity. By actively inviting public feedback on specific trading rules such as leverage and margin, the CFTC demonstrates its open and efficient style, aiming to quickly pave a highway for digital goods to mainstream finance.
Meanwhile, the SEC's 'Project Crypto' serves as the visionary 'master designer,' responsible for outlining the future blueprint of digital finance. Its planning is highly forward-looking: first, to reform outdated custody rules, paving the way for the abolition of SAB 121, allowing traditional banks to safely and compliantly hold digital assets in large quantities; second, to establish an 'Innovation Safe Harbor,' allowing startup projects to issue tokens while meeting specific disclosure requirements, granting valuable early development space for innovation; and its most revolutionary idea is to promote the 'super applications' model, allowing a single compliant entity to simultaneously provide trading services for digital goods (regulated by CFTC) and digital securities (regulated by SEC), completely dismantling artificial business barriers.
One is responsible for quickly 'clearing the path,' while the other is responsible for long-term 'planning blueprint.' Both have their respective roles and closely cooperate, together transforming the current government's pro-crypto stance into an executable and predictable action plan.
Wall Street's 'Beachhead Landing'
Once the clear regulatory framework begins to take shape, it will be Wall Street's capital that first senses the opportunity. For these financial giants, this collaborative action has sounded the horn for a full entry into the digital asset space. The friendly signals over the past seven months have made them eager to act, and now the specific rule blueprint allows them to confidently deploy heavy resources.
The torrent of institutional capital: The CFTC's clear regulation of the spot market and the SEC's expected reforms to custody rules mean that the last compliance barrier preventing 'deep-pocket' capital such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds from entering the market is being dismantled. The scale of capital inflows will no longer be a trickle but could form a torrent.
Upgrading Financial Infrastructure: The positioning of domestic exchanges like Coinbase will be elevated. They will transition from being market participants striving to prove their compliance to officially becoming core financial infrastructure recognized by federal standards. Under the framework of 'super applications,' they are expected to become 'super ports' connecting traditional finance with the digital world, welcoming massive orders from Wall Street.
The Return of the Innovation Engine: The concept of an 'Innovation Safe Harbor' holds immense appeal for global Web3 talent and projects. It conveys a clear signal: the United States not only welcomes cryptocurrency companies but will also provide the best innovation soil in the world. An 'intellectual capital repatriation' and an explosion of local innovation are just around the corner.
As the regulatory framework gradually takes shape, the market's pricing power will accelerate the shift from early participants to institutional investors. Wall Street's entry will bring unprecedented depth, liquidity, and stability to the market.
Epilogue: Laying the Leadership Position for the Next Decade
Of course, Rome was not built in a day. The full implementation of the new policy still needs to resolve countless technical details, and the classification disputes regarding new types of tokens will continue under the new framework. However, this is no longer a directional struggle, but rather a technical discussion during the construction process.
The core change is that the United States has completed a key leap from 'friendly attitude' to 'clear rules.' The role of regulatory agencies has firmly shifted to that of partners and builders in the market. This action jointly promoted by the CFTC and SEC is not only about clearing away the policy legacies of the old era but also about laying a solid foundation for the digital financial dominance of the United States over the next decade.
Looking globally, facing fierce competition from places like Hong Kong and Dubai, the United States has made a strong response through a collaborative, efficient, and visionary regulatory construction. A clear-rule America will be the ultimate destination for capital, talent, and innovation in the global digital economy era.
