SEC Vote on August 14 Could Trigger Crypto Rulemaking Amid Stalled CLARITY Act

In developments regarding the Ripple CLARITY Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is scheduled to vote on August 14, 2026, on whether to publish a proposal known as “Regulation Crypto” for public comment. This proposal would establish a bespoke offering regime under the Securities Act for investment contracts involving the offer of crypto assets, replacing existing staff guidance and policy statements with more permanent regulations.

If commissioners approve the publication, the vote would initiate a formal rulemaking process. It is important to note that a proposal released for comment is not itself a final rule; the SEC would still need to gather public input, revise the proposal as appropriate, and bring a final rule back to the commission for consideration.

This move could be influenced by the Senate’s decision not to act on the CLARITY Act before the August recess, with the next meeting set for September. Meanwhile, XRP/USD is trading just above key support at $1, with the regulatory uncertainty creating indecision on the chart.

A Regulator Moving Where Congress Hasn’t

The three-member commission will decide whether to approve the publication of the proposal for a public comment period. This decision would mark the start of rulemaking aimed at establishing more permanent rules for digital-asset firms.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has ranked crypto rulemaking as a top priority for the agency. The proposal follows a Senate vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that did not advance before the August recess, leaving the market-structure bill stalled.

Until now, the SEC’s approach to crypto has relied substantially on staff statements and policy guidance. Formal notice-and-comment rulemaking, by contrast, is intended to produce durable, binding regulations once finalized.

BREAKING:
The SEC just scheduled a major crypto vote in 4 days.
Friday, August 14. 10 AM ET.
“Regulation Crypto Assets.”
Here’s the part the headline gets wrong.
This isn’t the CLARITY Act. Trump isn’t signing anything this week.
This is the SEC acting on its own, because… pic.twitter.com/P22QKzJGJ0

— Crypto Tice (@CryptoTice_) August 12, 2026

What the Proposal Could Do as the CLARITY Act Stalls

Regulation Crypto is expected to provide an exemption that would allow qualifying crypto projects to raise capital without automatically triggering SEC registration requirements. The proposal may also describe circumstances in which the SEC’s securities jurisdiction no longer applies after the managerial efforts involved in an investment contract have been exhausted.

This approach could address a longstanding question in U.S. crypto regulation: whether an asset that initially qualifies as part of an investment contract must always remain a security. The SEC’s rulemaking could provide issuers with greater clarity about compliance at different stages of a project’s lifecycle.

TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote that the proposal could be the first in a series of crypto regulatory proposals following the stalled legislative effort. The SEC’s work also follows joint efforts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to create a taxonomy for crypto assets and additional rules relating to tokenized securities.

Why the Vote Matters for CLARITY Act XRP Readers

$XRP just closed at its lowest since November 2024, and the on-chain read is more interesting than the price.
Price closed at ~$1.00 on Aug 12, the lowest daily close since Nov 2024 and roughly 69% below the January 2025 peak near $3.30.
Activity picked up anyway. Active… pic.twitter.com/3JcxJjWNFd

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 13, 2026

The proposal is described as a regime for qualifying crypto projects. For readers following XRP, the immediate significance of the August 14 meeting is procedural: commissioners are considering whether to publish a proposed framework for comment, not whether to adopt a final rule that day.

If published, the proposal would reveal further details about the expected offering exemption and circumstances in which securities jurisdiction may no longer apply. The expected framework could give qualifying projects a path to raise capital without full registration and could address the role of managerial efforts in an investment contract, but the final details would remain subject to the rulemaking process.

The Ripple CLARITY Act Bottleneck

With the market-structure bill stalled, formal SEC rulemaking is one of the primary avenues through which crypto offerings may be defined under federal securities law. The agency’s proposal is therefore expected to provide a clearer path for U.S. crypto policy while Congress considers broader legislation.

Atkins has also called for congressional legislation to establish guardrails around U.S. crypto markets. SEC rulemaking and congressional action can therefore proceed on separate tracks, with the agency’s proposal focused on the regulatory treatment of crypto-related investment contracts.

Read more: SEC open meeting notice, August 14, 2026

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