Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on Aug. 22 that the United States is “closer than ever” to establishing clearer cryptocurrency regulations after a week of policy discussions in Washington.
Garlinghouse made the comments after participating in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting on Aug. 20, alongside executives from major financial and crypto companies. He argued that existing financial rules were designed for an earlier era and need to be updated for digital assets and emerging technologies.
The CFTC committee includes leaders such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams, CME Group CEO Terry Duffy, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman and Cboe Global Markets CEO Craig Donohue. However, the committee can only provide recommendations and cannot create legislation or independently establish new regulations.
Recent regulatory developments have given the industry more clarity. In March, the SEC and CFTC issued a joint interpretation establishing five broad categories for digital assets, including digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins and digital securities. The guidance also addressed areas such as staking, mining, airdrops and token wrapping.
However, the interpretation remains agency guidance rather than federal law, meaning it can potentially be revised or withdrawn and does not replace legislation from Congress.
The biggest test for U.S. crypto legislation is expected on Sept. 15, when the Senate is set to consider a cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The procedural vote would require 60 senators and would only advance the bill toward broader consideration rather than constitute final approval.
The legislation still faces disagreements over stablecoin rewards, decentralized finance, consumer protections, ethics requirements and illicit-finance safeguards, leaving its eventual passage uncertain.
Ripple’s own legal history also illustrates the limits of regulatory guidance. The company and the SEC dismissed their cross-appeals in 2025, leaving a roughly $125 million civil penalty and injunction in place. While the court ruling provided important clarification regarding XRP and specific sales, it did not create a nationwide statutory framework governing all future XRP transactions.
The Sept. 15 Senate vote will therefore be an important indicator of whether Washington can turn recent regulatory guidance into a lasting legislative framework for the cryptocurrency industry.
