Introduction:
The U.S. is finally getting serious about the crypto world.
A market structure discussion draft from the House of Representatives is drawing an unprecedented 'regulatory red line' for digital assets.
It seems like an upgrade in regulation, but in reality, it’s the crypto world’s rite of passage into compliance. Will it accelerate the next bull market or completely split the crypto world?
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1. What exactly is this draft doing? No longer letting the SEC have unchecked power.
The core of this draft is not complicated; it has only one goal:
Putting a steering wheel and brakes on U.S. crypto regulation.
Main content includes:
• Clarifying what constitutes securities and what constitutes commodities, no longer allowing the SEC to target whoever they want;
• Introducing a brand new role: 'digital asset intermediaries'. Exchanges, custodians, protocol developers, DeFi front ends, you all need to be under regulatory scrutiny;
• Promoting the creation of a **'joint registration platform'**, jointly supervised by the SEC and CFTC, to resolve the long-standing issue of 'overlapping regulatory disputes'.
In a word:
This is what the U.S. wants - to have laws and regulations for the crypto world, but the premise is—you must obey.
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2. Reactions in the crypto world: some are happy, while others experience a spike in blood pressure.
Although this draft is still in the discussion stage, it has already caused a huge stir in the crypto world.
• Traditional exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken: eagerly awaiting clear rules, their support is the loudest. With a clear compliance runway, they can leverage the situation to take down more 'gray players'.
• DeFi projects, anonymous protocols: looking bewildered.
The draft vaguely mentions that 'protocol front-end operators' may also be subject to regulation, which is a ticking time bomb for a large number of anonymous developers on Ethereum.
• Investors: emotions are polarized. Some see it as a cleansing before the bull market, while others worry that expanded regulation will destroy innovation.
The crypto ecosystem will soon consist of two types of people:
The 'regular army' with licenses and the 'desperados' evading regulation.
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3. This is not regulation; it’s the starting gun for a global compliance race.
Don't misunderstand, this is harvesting, not destruction.
The United States did not suddenly fall in love with blockchain but realized:
If we don’t establish the rules of the game soon, the crypto cake will either be consumed by the EU or taken away by Hong Kong.
From MiCA to Hong Kong's Web3 policies, the world is competing for compliance discourse power. This move by the U.S. is about control but also about taking the initiative.
For project parties, this draft is an opportunity. Whoever can adapt to the rules the quickest may take off early in the next bull market.
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Written at the end: Don’t fear regulation; what you should fear is being non-compliant and not realizing it.
Don’t fantasize that 'regulation cannot touch DeFi'.
The next step for the U.S. might be to force all protocols to have real-name front ends, KYC gateways, and even control API access rights.
So the question is not 'will the draft pass', but:
Are you ready? Are you a compliant player who stays, or an anonymous person who will ultimately be swept out?
The crypto world has always been like this:
Some have become wealthy because of freedom, while others have perished due to disorder.
And now—
Compliance is the new productivity.
