JPMorgan says this delay matters because it keeps one of crypto’s biggest open questions unresolved: when is a token a security, and when is it a commodity? The bank has now cut the odds of the CLARITY Act passing this year to 37%, down from a better-than-even shot before.
That shift matters right now. For banks and large asset managers, no bill means no cleaner rulebook, and that makes it harder to step further into digital assets with confidence. For investors, it means the same uncertainty that has hung over the market for years is still in place.
The bill itself is straightforward in purpose: it would give the CFTC a bigger role over digital commodities, keep some SEC authority in primary market crypto deals, and spell out that the investment contract is not automatically the asset itself. But for now, none of that is law.
One of the market’s main policy hopes for this year just got weaker, and crypto firms are still waiting for clear lines.