Ripple CEO Hails Sept. 15 Senate Vote as 'Decisive Test' for U.S. Crypto Regulation

Headline: Ripple’s CEO says U.S. crypto rules are approaching a “decisive test” as lawmakers eye Sept. 15 vote Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on Aug. 22 that the U.S. is “closer than ever” to clear crypto rules after a week of regulatory meetings in Washington — comments that reflect optimism about momentum, but not a change in federal law. Garlinghouse was speaking after attending the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting on Aug. 20, a forum he praised as the “Olympic roster of crypto.” He noted broad agreement among attendees that legacy financial rules “written for a different era” no longer fit digital assets and emerging technologies: “Rules written for a different era aren’t good enough. Not for consumers. Not for business. Not for innovation,” he wrote on X. The CFTC appointed Garlinghouse to the committee in February. The IAC mixes crypto leaders and traditional finance executives — members include Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Uniswap Labs’ Hayden Adams, and CEOs from CME Group, Nasdaq and Cboe — and is charged with advising the CFTC on technology, finance, law and policy. Crucially, the committee can only make recommendations; it cannot write law or independently issue regulations. Garlinghouse’s upbeat read also reflects a joint interpretation issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC in March that tried to clarify how different types of digital assets should be treated. That guidance outlines five categories — covering digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins and digital securities — and touches on topics like airdrops, mining, staking and token wrapping. The interpretation took effect March 23, but it is agency guidance, not statute: courts are not bound by it and future regulators could revise or rescind it. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has called that interpretation “a beginning rather than the end,” a caveat that highlights the limits of regulatory guidance. Only Congress can create a durable statutory split between SEC and CFTC authority — and that makes the upcoming legislative calendar the real test. The key milestone is a Sept. 15 procedural vote on whether the Senate will invoke cloture and proceed to debate the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. That vote requires 60 senators to move forward; if successful it opens floor debate but does not mean final passage. Lawmakers already left unresolved thorny issues before their August recess, including stablecoin reward rules, protections for decentralized finance, ethics provisions, illicit-finance controls and consumer safeguards — all sticking points that make the bill’s ultimate fate uncertain even with industry backing from firms like Ripple. Garlinghouse also referenced Ripple’s long-running legal fight with the SEC. A 2023 court decision found that XRP was not necessarily a security in all circumstances, a ruling that helped Ripple but was limited to the transactions before the court. Ripple’s litigation ultimately ended with a $125.04 million civil penalty and an injunction against future securities-registration violations; the SEC says cross-appeals were dismissed in 2025, leaving that final judgment in place. So while Garlinghouse framed the court outcome as delivering “clarity for XRP,” the decision did not create a nationwide statutory framework for all future XRP sales. All eyes now turn to Sept. 15. If cloture fails, the SEC/CFTC joint guidance will remain the main federal framework for digital assets while lawmakers decide whether to resume negotiations after the midterms — leaving regulatory uncertainty in place for the industry.