The US market-structure fight: who regulates crypto

On Wednesday 22 July 2026 Senate negotiators circulated a new working draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. CoinDesk reported it as a would-be final version that makes the ethics rule temporary. Decrypt, reading the 616-page text, reported it would bar the president, members of Congress and federal judges from being paid to issue or sponsor digital assets, lapsing in 2029. The Defiant reported that Senator Cynthia Lummis released the text, and quoted Senator Angela Alsobrooks calling the enforcement plan "wild and unserious".

Section 13 of the GENIUS Act directed each primary federal payment stablecoin regulator to promulgate implementing regulations through notice-and-comment rulemaking no later than one year after enactment. The Act was signed on 18 July 2025, and The Block reported that US regulators reached that deadline on Saturday 18 July 2026 without issuing the final regulations needed to fully implement the federal stablecoin framework, naming the OCC, the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and federal anti-money-laundering authorities.

On Monday 17 August 2026 the Treasury Department issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on implementing section 3 of the GENIUS Act, opening a 60-day comment period from publication in the Federal Register, ahead of the statute's January 2027 effect. Unchained reported the proposal would bar digital asset service providers from offering a covered token to a person located in the US from 18 July 2028 unless a licensed US issuer or a qualifying foreign issuer created it. Cointelegraph reported it followed the one-year rulemaking deadline that passed in July.

ZeroHash filed an application with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter, which would let it custody digital assets, manage stablecoin reserves and provide settlement services under federal oversight, but not take customer deposits or make commercial loans. CoinDesk dated the filing to 4 March; the coverage ran on 5 March.

Revolut applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to establish Revolut Bank US, N.A. This is a full de novo banking charter, not the national trust charter the stablecoin issuers sought: a trust charter is restricted to custody and fiduciary services, while a de novo bank may take deposits and lend. The Financial Times reported the application first.

The Guardian reported, citing a source familiar with the group's thinking, that the Bank Policy Institute — a trade group whose board includes the chief executives of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America — was weighing a lawsuit against the OCC over its crypto and fintech trust charters. The group's objection is that the charters could 'blur the statutory boundary of what it means to be a bank', granting federal standing without the capital and compliance requirements banks face. The OCC did not comment. No lawsuit has been filed.

Sony Bank said it had received preliminary conditional approval from the OCC to form Connectia Trust, a wholly owned US national trust bank subsidiary capitalised with $40 million, to issue and manage a dollar-denominated stablecoin. The approval is conditional: final OCC clearance is still required before operations begin. Decrypt dated the approval to Sony's 6 July statement; the coverage ran on 9 July.

The OCC granted Circle final approval to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust, converting the conditional approval it received in December 2025 into an unconditional one. The bank will provide fiduciary digital asset custody for Circle and its affiliates at launch; managing USDC reserves is named as a future capability, not a day-one one. Circle shares closed at about $63 on 9 July and rose in pre-market trading on 10 July, by 8.4% to about 16% depending on the measure each outlet quoted.

In a note issued the same day the OCC granted the charter, Mizuho kept a neutral rating on Circle and said the market reaction was 'likely overly optimistic, as this does not resolve fundamental issues that have been hurting the stock of recent' — naming USDC's declining market capitalisation since March and competition from consortium-backed stablecoins such as Open USD. CoinDesk reported the note on 13 July. Circle did not comment.

The Defiant reported that on Friday 24 July 2026 the money-transfer fintech Wise disclosed that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had denied its application for a US national trust bank charter. Citing Law360's review of the decision letter, the regulator raised "significant supervisory and compliance concerns" over the company's anti-money-laundering controls; Wise said it plans to resubmit under a GENIUS Act framework. The date of the OCC's letter was not disclosed. It is the first denial on a thread of applications (ZeroHash, Revolut) and approvals (Sony Bank, Circle).

The European Securities and Markets Authority said that many prediction-market event contracts may already fall within the European Union's existing restrictions on the sale of binary options to retail investors.

Kalshi's trading volume for June topped $9 billion, a record for the platform. Coverage attributed part of the increase to markets on the World Cup.

South Korean authorities were reported to be considering corrective action against Polymarket, citing domestic gambling rules.

Two traders filed a lawsuit against Polymarket and its chief executive over how the platform resolved a market on whether Strategy had sold bitcoin.

A federal judge declined Kalshi’s request to block New York from enforcing its gambling law against the platform. Kalshi filed an appeal the same day.

CoinDesk reported that Polymarket was preparing a United States marketing campaign as it re-entered the American market, four years after being barred from it.

Hyperliquid's policy arm and the wallet developer Phantom publicly urged the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission not to apply broker and exchange registration rules to onchain protocols and DeFi developers. Three publications reported the request.

North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill recognizing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's federal regulatory authority over prediction markets.

Polymarket filed applications seeking regulatory approval to offer margin trading to customers in the United States.

Cointelegraph reported that several Wall Street banks tightened their internal rules governing employee trading on prediction markets, amid concerns about the handling of non-public information.

The Czech Ministry of Finance's Department of Procedural Agendas and Gambling Regulation added Polymarket to the country's list of unauthorized internet games, a step that under Czech gambling law requires internet service providers to block access within 15 days. Jan Rehola, director of the Institute for the Regulation of Gambling, said the move 'is not about banning innovation' but about ensuring the same rules apply to everyone who offers betting for money. Polymarket did not comment in the report. The action follows South Korea's move on 6 July to weigh similar measures.

The CFTC stayed a KalshiEX emergency rule change and directed the exchange to settle open trades under its normal practices (Release 9267-26). An Ingham County Circuit Court judge had ordered on 29 June that trades placed by Michigan residents be cancelled and refunded. Chairman Michael S. Selig said a state cannot force a federally designated exchange to violate its obligations, and called cancelling executed trades an unprecedented step. Kalshi's Robert DeNault said on X that the orders left it in 'an impossible position', and that Kalshi had already unwound the trades as Michigan required.

ABC News reported that Gabriel Perez, a longtime White House teleprompter operator, was in negotiations with the CFTC over allegations that he used advance knowledge of President Trump's speeches to place bets on Kalshi. The White House said Perez was placed on paid administrative leave; a CFTC spokesperson would not confirm or deny an investigation.

On 16 July 2026 the president of France's Autorite nationale des jeux (ANJ), the national gambling regulator, ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket, which it classified as an online gambling service operating without authorization in France. In a 17 July statement the ANJ said the platform lacks licensed-operator protections — stake limits, self-exclusion and identity checks — and that its real-time-odds homepage promotes unauthorized gambling. Polymarket did not comment, per CoinDesk. The order follows the Czech Republic's 13 July move and South Korea's review begun 6 July.

During the first month of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, prediction-market platforms recorded about $50 billion in monthly notional trading volume, an all-time high. CoinDesk reported Kalshi posted roughly $31 billion in June, with sports contracts about 85% of its trading, and Polymarket's international exchange about $10.8 billion. In a Crypto Industry Report published 16 July, CoinGecko put second-quarter notional volume at $113.8 billion and June's at $50.7 billion, with Kalshi near 58.9% share and Polymarket 30.2%. Both said the growth came despite broader crypto weakness.

The Block reported that on 20 July 2026 Judge John McHale of King County Superior Court in Washington granted the state's motion for a preliminary injunction against Kalshi, writing that it "offers illegal gambling activities to Washington consumers" under state law and that the federal Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt Washington. A Kalshi spokesperson told The Block that "states don't have jurisdiction to regulate prediction markets." The ruling parallels the jurisdiction-blocking moves against Polymarket in France, the Czech Republic and South Korea.

On 22 July 2026 Polymarket said it will challenge the order by France's Autorite nationale des jeux (ANJ), the national gambling regulator, requiring internet providers to block its website. Polymarket said it was 'surprised' by the decision because the block also cuts off users visiting only for information, and called the measure disproportionate. It rejected being classed as an unlicensed gambling operator, describing its markets as peer-to-peer financial instruments whose prices are set by traders, not by an operator taking the other side. The move follows the ANJ's 16 July block order.

On Friday 24 July 2026 the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight issued an advisory, released as Staff Letter 26-22, cautioning designated contract markets against filing broad, template-style certifications that combine many contract variations into one submission. Unchained reported the letter as saying such filings limit the division's ability to judge whether an exchange has supplied the required information, explanation and analysis, including on settlement methodology and compliance. CoinDesk reported it as a reminder not to cut corners on far-ranging certifications.

CoinDesk reported, citing a private financial document it had reviewed, that as of 30 June 2022 Alameda Research held $14.6 billion in assets, and that its largest single entry was $3.66 billion of "unlocked FTT" — the token issued by its sister company FTX — alongside $2.16 billion of "FTT collateral" and $292 million of "locked FTT" among $8 billion of liabilities. CoinDesk noted the document might represent only part of Alameda.

Responding to CoinDesk's report on Alameda Research's balance sheet, Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said on Sunday 6 November 2022 that Binance would liquidate the remaining FTT on its books, tokens it had received when it exited its FTX equity position the previous year as part of roughly $2.1 billion in BUSD and FTT. Zhao said the sale would be carried out so as to "minimize market impact". Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison said the firm's financial condition was stronger than the balance sheet indicated and offered to buy Binance's FTT holdings at $22 each.

On 8 November 2022 Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said FTX had asked Binance for help that afternoon, describing "a significant liquidity crunch", and that Binance had signed a non-binding letter of intent intending to fully acquire FTX.com. Zhao said the transaction remained subject to due diligence and cautioned that FTT prices would stay volatile. FTT and BNB prices rose following the announcement.

On 9 November 2022 a Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk that the company had scrapped its letter of intent to buy FTX.com, saying that "as a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged U.S. agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com". The spokesperson said the issues were "beyond our control or ability to help".

On Friday 11 November 2022 FTX Trading, FTX US, Alameda Research and approximately 130 affiliated companies began Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the District of Delaware, according to a press release the company published. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive, saying he would "remain to assist in an orderly transition", and was succeeded by John J. Ray III, who had previously overseen the Enron bankruptcy. Bankruptcy filings attributed to FTX US and Alameda Research each estimated between $10 billion and $50 billion in liabilities and a similar range in assets.