crs_reports: R48963

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R48963 Cryptocurrency: Regulatory and Legislative Policy Issues 2026-05-29T04:00:00Z 2026-05-30T05:24:05Z Active Reports Paul Tierno   Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be held and transacted using software and across networks of disparate groups that do not require financial intermediaries, such as banks. Their key features are that they are pseudonymous, decentralized, and permissionless assets, features that are essential to creating the alternative and censorship-resistant financial system promoted by early adopters. These features may also make them instrumental in facilitating illicit activity and create challenges for regulators. Over time, cryptocurrency has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar industry, and a host of policy issues have arisen. This report discusses legislative and regulatory contexts of the cryptocurrency industry and addresses the key issues debated by Congress. The legislative and regulatory contexts have changed somewhat over the past few years. Recent policies pursued by President Trump that diverge significantly from policies of the Biden Administration, along with personnel changes at regulatory agencies, highlight the impermanence of regulatory policy from one Administration to the next. Absent legislation, the current more favorable regulatory climate for certain cryptocurrency businesses—a reversal from the regulatory climate during the Biden Administration—could presumably be reversed again. In the legislative context, congressional reception of cryptocurrencies and the industry has also been changing, and many Members on the committees of jurisdiction have expressed interest in establishing legislation to create what they believe are necessary new authorities and a new regulatory structure. Congress has generally approached cryptocurrency-related legislation on two tracks, separately considering a stablecoin framework and a cryptocurrency market structure framework. The 119th Congress passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act; P.L. 119-27), which regulates payment stablecoin issuers, in July 2025. Congress continues to debate the details of the broader companion bill addressing cryptocurrency market structure, with the House passing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act; H.R. 3633). At the same time, the cryptocurrency industry has gained greater acceptance and greater adoption by traditional financial institutions, allowing the industry to advocate for certain legislative and regulatory preferences. Combined, the shifting regulatory climate and the industry’s growing influence have improved the industry’s outlook, but have also exposed tensions between certain members of the cryptocurrency industry and some traditional financial players, such as traditional banks. Key policy issues surrounding the cryptocurrency industry that Congress is considering and may choose to address through legislation include, foundationally, whether new authorities are required for certain market regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and what such authorities should entail. There is significant debate over who will regulate the various types of cryptocurrency activities, including issuance and secondary market trading performed on centralized platforms; how broad responsibilities may be divided among market regulators; and whether regulators will apply existing frameworks or adopt bespoke ones for the asset class and industry. Another key policy issue Congress may consider is whether to establish some taxonomy for various assets so that regulatory treatment applicable to different types of assets—such as cryptocurrency securities and non-securities—is clearer. Difficulty regulating decentralized finance, a facet of the industry that operates through software without intermediaries, is another emerging policy issue. Whether and how Congress chooses to deal with crypto and decentralized finance has consequences for other key policy issues, including how to account for potential illicit activity. Other issues addressed in the report include the role of fraud and scams, potential ethics issues introduced by the participation of President Trump or his family members in certain crypto enterprises, and greater integration with the traditional financial sector. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48963/R48963.1.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R48963.html

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