Fed hikes rates, CLARITY fails, SEC backs tokenized stocks

In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate, and the SEC opened a five-year pathway for tokenized U.S. stock trading.

Fed raises rates for first time since 2023

• The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%–4% on Sep. 16. All 12 voting Federal Open Market Committee members supported the decision, while 16 of 18 officials projected at least one more increase before the end of 2026.
• Bitcoin briefly approached $76,000 after the announcement but remained under pressure from higher Treasury yields and a stronger dollar. More than $540 million in bullish crypto positions had been liquidated over 24 hours, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded over $450 million in net outflows on Sep. 15.

CLARITY Act falls short in Senate vote

• The Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act after a cloture motion received 50 votes to 49, falling 10 votes short of the threshold needed to begin debate. The bill sought to divide digital-asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC.
• Negotiations had stalled over government ethics rules, stablecoin rewards, protections for software developers and the treatment of event contracts. Polymarket’s probability of the bill becoming law in 2026 fell from 31% to 7% after the vote, although Senate leaders could attempt another procedural vote.

SEC opens five-year tokenized stock pathway

• The SEC granted conditional relief allowing eligible venues to trade tokenized National Market System stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools for five years.
• Platforms must ensure token holders receive the same rights and privileges as traditional shareholders. The framework also includes trading limits, public smart contracts and coordinated trading halts, while the SEC has requested public comments on possible changes.

House panel advances first federal crypto tax framework

• The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in a 38–5 vote. The proposal would provide a tax exception for qualifying crypto network and transaction fees of up to $10.
• The bill also covers stablecoins, wash sales, digital-asset lending, mining, staking and broker reporting. Committee approval makes the proposal eligible for a full House vote, but both chambers would need to pass identical legislation before it could reach the president.

Bitcoin reserve bill clears House committee

• The House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation that would establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile in federal law. The amended proposal passed by 28 votes to 21.
• Bitcoin deposited into the proposed reserve would carry a minimum 20-year holding period. The Treasury and Commerce departments would also study budget-neutral purchases that do not require borrowing, new taxes or deficit spending.

CFTC sends crypto framework to White House

• The CFTC submitted a proposed crypto-market framework to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Sep. 17, two days after the CLARITY Act vote failed.
• Details remain undisclosed, but CFTC Chair Michael Selig had instructed staff to prepare rules under the agency’s existing authority. The proposal must return to the commission for a vote before publication and public comment.

Circle launches Arc mainnet with USDC gas

• Circle launched the Arc public mainnet with USDC as its gas asset and settlement times of under one second. The network supports 22 fiat stablecoins and tokenized funds, including BUIDL, USYC, JAAA and JTRSY.
• Initial validators include BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard and Standard Chartered. Circle said the testnet processed more than 700 million transactions before the mainnet launch.

Coinbase infrastructure reaches thousands of U.S. banks

• Coinbase partnered with Stablecore to let U.S. banks offer crypto trading, custody, staking and stablecoin payments through their existing systems.
• Stablecore’s integrations reach technology used by more than 3,000 banks and credit unions, although the figure does not mean all have signed with Coinbase. Amarillo National Bank is among the institutions already participating.

S&P Global agrees to acquire OpenZeppelin

• S&P Global agreed to acquire blockchain-security company OpenZeppelin for an undisclosed amount. OpenZeppelin will remain a separate business unit and continue maintaining its open-source contracts library.
• OpenZeppelin has completed more than 900 security engagements, while contracts using its software have supported over $37 trillion in transfers. The agreement followed S&P Global’s participation in Kaiko’s $110 million financing round earlier in the week.

Deutsche Bank plans institutional crypto custody

• Deutsche Bank confirmed plans to launch digital-asset custody later in 2026, subject to regulatory and internal approvals. Initial support is planned for Bitcoin, Ether, USDC, EURC and EURAU.
• The service will initially focus on institutional and corporate clients in Germany, including asset managers, hedge funds, brokers and sovereign institutions. Deutsche Bank will manage customer wallets and private keys through warm and cold storage systems.

Fake AI trading tutorials steal 274.6 ETH

• Fake YouTube tutorials promoting AI-powered arbitrage bots stole 274.6 ETH, worth about $517,000, from 224 victims, according to TRM Labs.
• Nine videos directed viewers to compromised compilers that replaced displayed code with malicious smart contracts. Victims deployed 234 contracts and transferred funds through transactions they approved, with the median loss reaching 1 ETH.

Bitmine’s Ethereum holdings approach 6 million ETH

• Bitmine Immersion Technologies bought another 27,180 ETH, lifting its holdings to 5,956,378 ETH as of Sep. 13. The company valued the position at nearly $15 billion.
• Bitmine’s treasury represented about 4.9% of Ethereum’s reported 122 million-token supply, placing it close to its 5% target. The company had staked 5.07 million ETH, equal to roughly 85% of its holdings.