After a year of policy changes under the Trump administration, 2026 is proving to be a pivotal period for US digital asset rules.
Key developments include Senate action on market structure legislation, the introduction of a new stablecoin law, changes in CFTC leadership, and state-level experiments led by Arizona and Texas, according to Cointelegraph and CryptoNews.
What happens next will affect how tokens trade, how stablecoins are issued, who oversees the market, and how states will tax or support blockchain activity.
Here’s what to watch for and why it’s important.
The market structure bill advances in the Senate
At the end of December, the Senate had not yet voted on a bill on the structure of the digital asset market.
The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in July, and senators signaled they would build on that text rather than pass it unchanged, Cointelegraph reported.
Committee leaders released two discussion drafts in 2025. The Senate Banking Committee proposed a Republican-led draft in July, while the Senate Agriculture Committee released a bipartisan draft in November.
Both must go through their committees before a floor vote on either bill or a combined version.
The drafts suggest that Congress could give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority over digital assets, while the Securities and Exchange Commission would continue to oversee areas such as exchange-traded funds.
Grayscale said the bill could “facilitate deeper integration between public blockchains and traditional finance” and support regulated trading and on-chain issuance.
Wider participation could follow clearer rules.
“I expect an increasing number of jurisdictions to establish clear and transparent regulatory frameworks,” Ruslan Lienkha of YouHodler said in comments shared with Cointelegraph.
Stablecoin framework moves into regulation
The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins.
It goes into effect 18 months after taking effect after regulators approve the implementation rules, which Cointelegraph says runs until 2026.
The Treasury Department opened two rounds of comments in August and September. Experts say a notice of proposed rulemaking could be published in the first half of 2026.
Other banking regulators are also involved. On December 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed to allow subsidiaries of supervised banks to issue payment stablecoins under the GENIUS criteria.
The industry expects banks to test on-chain finance with clearer rules.
“As regulatory clarity strengthens, especially through laws like the GENIUS Act, banks are increasingly exploring on-chain tools,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, in a comment shared with Cointelegraph.
Changes in CFTC leadership affect oversight
In 2025, four of the five CFTC commissioners resigned, leaving Republican Caroline Pham as acting chair and sole commissioner in December.
The White House initially nominated former commissioner Brian Quintenz, then withdrew the choice in September after opposition from industry figures, Cointelegraph reported.
Trump subsequently nominated SEC official Michael Selig, who exited the Senate Agriculture Committee in November and was confirmed by a 53-43 vote as part of a package of nominees.
As of December, the administration had not announced candidates for the remaining commissioner positions.
States test reserves and fiscal policy, Arizona in particular
Texas has created a state-run fund that can hold Bitcoin.
Officials said in November that the fund held $5 million in shares of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF and planned to invest another $5 million directly in Bitcoin, a move that could happen in 2026, according to Cointelegraph.
Other states are moving to reservations and taxes. Arizona lawmakers introduced SB 1044 to exempt virtual currency from taxation and SB 1045 to prohibit local taxes or fees to blockchain node operators.
A related resolution, SCR 1003, would exclude virtual currency from property tax, CryptoNews reported.
The kink bill could pass the Legislature, while broader exemptions would require voter approval in November 2026.
Arizona already treats airdrops as gifts for state income tax as of December 2022, allows gasoline expenses to be deducted against gains and losses, and allows state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies through approved vendors.
The state also has a law that allows the government to reclaim ownership of abandoned digital assets after three years.
Arizona’s push into Bitcoin reserves has been contested. An earlier bill was vetoed in May, then a revised version later passed the state Senate by a vote of 16–14, CryptoNews reported.
Return of federal tax debates to Capitol Hill
Congress is preparing to overhaul digital asset taxation after years of relying on 2014 IRS guidance.
In December, Rep. Max Miller said a draft bill to modernize digital asset taxation could be passed before the August 2026 recess, according to CryptoNews.
Most recently, bipartisan House lawmakers released a discussion draft that would exempt small stablecoin payments from capital gains tax and allow a five-year deferral on staking and mining rewards.
Through 2026, the Senate’s market structural path, GENIUS rulemaking, CFTC appointments, and state-level efforts will set the tone for how digital assets will be supervised, traded, and taxed.
Investors and companies will be keeping an eye on November’s commission calendars, proposed regulations and ballots for upcoming signs.
