Introduction to Figment’s Series of Regulatory Updates
2025 marked a turning point for digital-asset regulation. Major jurisdictions across the world drew explicit distinctions between protocol infrastructure and financial products. That momentum is continuing into 2026. The U.S. is expecting further guidance this month, specifically around the Market Structure Bill, taxation, and stablecoin regulations.
Figment is providing a series of high-level summaries of regulatory topics by region, dates, and connections to staking. We are providing regional pulses since many of the companies and partners we work with operate globally, starting with the U.S.
U.S. Market Regulatory Pulse
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a “crypto sprint” starting August 1, 2025, and the pace of activity continues.
Current U.S. Regulatory Activity and Upcoming Dates
CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Structure Legislation)
- The Senate Banking Committee scheduled a markup on January 15, 2026. Key components included:
- Tokens such as BTC and ETH inferred to fall into a defined category ‘digital commodities’ with primary oversight from the CFTC
- Securities-like tokens would remain under SEC jurisdiction
- Registration requirements for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers
- Further clarity for DeFi and tokenized assets
- The Senate Agriculture Committee intends to hold its own markup hearing at the same time
- There is potential for its passage before the November 2026 midterms if this momentum continues
GENIUS ACT (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act)
- GENIUS Act (signed July 18, 2025) takes effect on the earlier of Jan 18, 2027 or 120 days after final implementing regulations; regulators have several 1-year rulemaking deadlines. Highlights include:
- Requirement for 1:1 reserves in high-quality assets (e.g., cash or T-bills)
- Licensed issuers under federal rules (or state regimes for firms equal or under $10B)
- Restricted rehypothecation
- Strong anti-money laundering (AML) and enhanced consumer protections
PARITY Act (Digital Asset Protection, Accountability, Regulation, Innovation, Taxation, and Yields)
- Sponsors, Representatives Max Miller and Steven Horsford, have released a discussion draft at the end of 2025, but no additional timing guidance has been given. Key components include:
- Exclude gain or loss on payments made with ‘Regulated Payment Stablecoins’ (subject to a price-band limitation), aligning stablecoin use more closely with everyday payment treatment
- Elective framework reported to allow deferral of income tax on staking and mining rewards for up to five years (see below)
- Apply wash sale rules to limit tax-loss harvesting strategies
- Add mark-to-market options for active traders
How this Relates to Staking
Regulation through legislation rather than enforcement of digital assets broadly benefits staking by opening the door for broader engagement with Proof-of-Stake assets and staking adoption, especially for U.S. regulated institutions and the largest banks who also manage traditional financial assets.
While GENIUS is focused on stablecoins, both CLARITY and PARITY stand to have an impact on the staking landscape. CLARITY could codify the SEC’s May 29th guidance into law and ensure that protocol staking and staking as a service are not construed as securities. While still subject to change and further drafting, PARITY could also give stakers in the U.S. a five year deferral option on taxation of staking rewards such that at the end of the five years, staking rewards would be taxed at Fair Market Value, setting a new tax cost base for future dispositions.
Figment’s Contribution
Figment continues our long-standing commitment and leadership in educating regulators and policymakers globally. Our focus is to ensure that staking is understood as core blockchain infrastructure and the importance of its role in securing and validating blockchain networks.
On May 29, 2025 the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance released long awaited guidance on protocol staking activities that staking practices do not constitute securities offerings under U.S. federal securities laws. Following that announcement Figment was invited to the Capitol Hill Education Day in Washington D.C. alongside the Blockchain Association, where we engaged with more than 75 Senate staffers, members of Congress, and representatives from the SEC to explain staking mechanics, custody models, and validator operations. Soon after, we met with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to educate on staking’s role in ETPs and to help inform their development of clear, workable tax treatment of staking rewards within regulated fund structures.
Figment has been active in support of the Blockchain Association in D.C., most recently at their December 2025 Policy Summit, where we engaged with Senators, House members, and regulators. Across discussions, there was notable bipartisan support for market-structure legislation and growing recognition of staking as foundational infrastructure.
