Bitwise has identified four crypto sectors that benefited from the CLARITY Act’s Senate setback, with NEAR gaining 104% and Uniswap rising 49% between the vote and Sep. 30. Summary Stablecoin platforms retained room to offer balance rewards, with Coinbase named the largest beneficiary. Established exchanges preserved business advantages that Hougan said the proposed legislation would have reduced. SEC action opened a five-year testing route for qualifying tokenized U.S. stock trading venues. Token buyback guidance carries conditions, while Bitwise flagged regulatory reversal under a future administration. Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matt Hougan wrote in a Sep. 30 memo that faster regulatory action and fewer proposed business restrictions helped explain crypto’s gains after the Senate failed to advance the bill on Sep. 15. In the memo’s measurement period, Hougan put Bitcoin’s gain at 8% and Ethereum’s at 7%. His analysis identified stablecoin platforms, established exchanges, tokenization businesses and revenue-generating tokens as beneficiaries, arguing that the industry had accepted restrictions during negotiations in exchange for lasting legal certainty. “Crypto sacrificed long-term certainty and got better rules, faster.” Although Hougan saw advantages in the failed vote, he warned that agency decisions offer less protection against political change than legislation. A new administration taking office in January 2029 could appoint SEC and CFTC leaders who take a tougher approach, he wrote. In his assessment, growing blockchain activity among major financial institutions could make such reversals less likely. He expected those firms to have several more years of blockchain development behind them by the next administration. Token buybacks gained guidance after the CLARITY Act setback Among tokens using platform revenue to repurchase supply, Hougan reported gains of 104% for NEAR, 49% for Uniswap, 19% for Pump, 15% for Hyperliquid and 10% for Lighter as of Sep. 30. For the executive, uncertainty over buybacks was a weakness in the proposed bill. He said a token could qualify for CFTC oversight as a digital commodity, yet later actions by its issuer could raise questions about whether it should return to securities treatment. The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance addressed repurchase announcements in FAQs first issued Sep. 25. As crypto.news covered on Sep. 26, the staff’s token buyback guidance examined whether an announcement amounts to a promise of managerial work that buyers expect to generate profits. In its updated answer, SEC staff specified that a non-security token’s network must be functional and have no central party. Under those conditions, announcing a buyback would not constitute a promise to undertake essential managerial efforts. Staff added the no-central-party condition on Sep. 28. For an unfinished system, its answer says a buyback announcement could constitute such a promise if the issuer presents repurchases as producing yield or returns for holders. According to the SEC, the FAQs express staff views, have no legal force, and do not change existing law. The Commission has neither approved nor disapproved their contents. Tokenized stock venues gained a five-year testing route For tokenization companies, Hougan contrasted the bill’s proposed SEC study with an exemption the agency issued two days after the Senate vote. He expected the study and subsequent rulemaking to take years, while the order permitted qualifying businesses to begin testing a defined trading model. Under the SEC’s Sep. 17 order, eligible tokenized U.S. stocks can trade through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. The agency granted conditional relief from the legal definition of an exchange for qualifying venues and from the dealer definition for certain liquidity providers. The SEC’s announcement says the exemptions expire five years after publication. Its conditions include limits on eligible stock symbols and trading volume, equivalent shareholder rights, and trading pauses aligned with the underlying stock’s primary exchange. For stock tokenized by an unaffiliated third party, the SEC also requires notice to the underlying issuer and an opportunity to object. Hougan identified Securitize as a beneficiary, citing its tokenization work for BlackRock, Apollo and KKR. He also noted its role in maintaining ownership records as transfer agent for BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. In Oct. 2 coverage of Robinhood’s stock token limits, crypto chief Johann Kerbrat said existing trading activity could run into the SEC framework’s caps. The report noted that Robinhood’s current Stock Tokens are debt securities issued by its Jersey entity, remain unavailable to U.S. users, and differ from the tokenized shares covered by the exemption. Stablecoin platforms kept room for customer rewards For stablecoin platforms, Hougan’s argument centered on restrictions that did not become law. He said the final negotiated CLARITY text would have barred platforms from paying stablecoin interest or yield in any form, with penalties reaching $5 million per violation. The separate GENIUS Act, enacted July 18, 2025, prohibits payment stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield solely for holding, using or retaining their tokens. Hougan interpreted its treatment of issuers as leaving an opening for exchanges to offer third-party rewards. Naming Coinbase as the largest beneficiary, the executive said the exchange uses stablecoin rewards to attract customers. He also argued that banks’ resistance to incentives could ultimately help stablecoins draw business from the traditional financial system. Banking groups had raised a different concern before the vote. In a July 14 report on banks’ stablecoin yield objections, the American Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of America and 76 state banking associations urged senators to tighten reward provisions. According to their letter, incentives tied to balances could encourage customers to move deposits away from community banks. The associations warned that reduced deposits could affect funds available for mortgages, small businesses, and agricultural lending. Established exchanges retained licensing and brokerage advantages For Coinbase and Kraken, Hougan identified two advantages preserved by the legislative setback: barriers facing new competitors and the ability to combine trading with brokerage services. In his view, a national spot-exchange license would have made market entry easier for large traditional financial companies. Established exchanges instead retained an advantage from the work already invested in securing permissions across individual states. Hougan also said the proposed bill would have limited exchanges’ ability to operate both a trading venue and a brokerage business. Preserving the combined model avoided costs he associated with separating those services. A Sep. 17 report on renewed CLARITY Act talks included a qualification from Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist: federal market structure legislation would not remove separate state licensing requirements. He said the bill principally addressed token classification and the division of authority between the SEC and CFTC. According to that report, seven Senate Democrats who opposed the procedural motion pledged to continue bipartisan negotiations after the 49–50 vote. Their Sep. 16 statement said the result was not the end of their work on the legislation.
