USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Scott Naidech, Basil Godellas, Alan Roth and Jacqueline Hu, Winston & Strawn
thereafter, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (the “CLARITY Act”) was passed by the House of Rep - resentatives, which codifies jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC, and sets forth defini - tions for digital commodities, digital asset custodians, and trading entities. The Senate is currently consider - ing its own version of the CLARITY Act. The SEC has been issuing various statements as to whether certain digital assets or products are within its jurisdiction, including with respect to stablecoins, meme coins, and types of digital asset staking, all of which the SEC has said do not constitute securities or securities activities. On 12 June 2025, the SEC formal - ly withdrew 14 proposed rulemakings, many of which targeted the digital asset space, including digital asset custody and decentralised finance (DeFi).
Investment managers that participate in the digi - tal asset market will need to comply with potential future obligations under both withdrawn SEC pro - posals and emerging legislation – particularly around registration requirements, custody, cybersecurity, digital asset definitions, and fiduciary responsibility. Under the CLARITY Act, digital commodity brokers and exchanges will be required to utilise “qualified digital asset custodians” and comply with segrega - tion, reporting, and risk-management standards. The CLARITY Act also calls for the broadening of CFTC oversight for digital commodities, which may subject certain investment managers to Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) or Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) responsibilities absent an exemption.
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