Are Governments Planning Coordinated Bitcoin Regulations?
The question of whether governments are planning coordinated Bitcoin regulations has become increasingly relevant as the cryptocurrency market matures and gains mainstream attention. The answer is nuanced and multifaceted, involving developments at both the federal and international levels that suggest a shift toward more organized regulatory frameworks, though true global coordination remains a work in progress.
The United States Regulatory Landscape
The United States has emerged as a leader in developing comprehensive cryptocurrency regulations, and recent developments indicate a clear movement toward coordinated government action. In January 2025, the President issued Executive Order 14178, titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” which represented a significant policy shift. This executive order prohibited federal development of a central bank digital currency, a move that clarified the government’s stance on digital currencies. More importantly, the order created the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within the National Economic Council and directed this group to produce a 180-day report with recommendations for regulatory and legislative proposals.[1]
The Working Group delivered its summer 2025 report, which outlined a comprehensive whole-of-government roadmap for cryptocurrency regulation. This roadmap included coordinated market-structure rulemakings under the CLARITY Act, a prudential template for stablecoin reserves and redemption risk under the GENIUS Act, supervisory expectations for key ceremonies and wallet governance at banks, and a plan to harmonize Bank Secrecy Act travel rule implementation without treating non-custodial software as a financial intermediary.[1] This represents a significant departure from the previous approach of regulatory improvisation toward what officials describe as a coordinated playbook.
Congressional Action and Market Structure Legislation
Congress has taken substantial steps toward coordinating cryptocurrency regulation through multiple pieces of legislation. The CLARITY Act, which was introduced in May 2025 and passed by the House of Representatives in July 2025, represents a major milestone in coordinated regulatory planning.[3] This 236-page legislation features a refined approach to jurisdictional allocation between federal agencies. The CLARITY Act gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, exclusive jurisdiction over digital commodity spot markets while allowing crypto platforms to register with either the CFTC or the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, depending on whether they handle digital commodities like Bitcoin or securities.[1]
The legislation maintains SEC authority to determine whether blockchain systems have achieved sufficient decentralization to qualify for CFTC oversight, which could potentially preserve some regulatory friction despite the jurisdictional clarification. However, the intent is clearly to reduce confusion and create a more coordinated regulatory environment where different agencies have clearly defined roles.
Building on this momentum, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee released a bipartisan discussion draft of cryptocurrency market structure legislation on November 10, 2025.[3] This draft is similar in several ways to the CLARITY Act and seeks to concentrate federal oversight over cryptocurrency markets with the CFTC, diminishing the jurisdiction of the SEC over the sector. The Senate draft includes a definition of digital commodities and the establishment of a spot market digital commodity regulatory regime with the CFTC, numerous consumer protections including customer fund segregation requirements, conflict of interest safeguards, customer disclosure requirements, and prohibitions on certain affiliated trading, a trading registration regime designed to facilitate liquid and resilient regulated markets while protecting retail participants, requirements for the CFTC and SEC to coordinate and collaborate on necessary inter-agency rulemakings, provisions addressing self-custody and innovative technology, and a new funding stream for the CFTC to stand up a spot market regulatory regime.[3]
Inter-Agency Coordination and Harmonization
A particularly significant indicator of coordinated regulatory planning is the explicit effort by the SEC and CFTC to harmonize their regulatory frameworks. On September 5, 2025, SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham issued a joint statement on regulatory harmonization opportunities and announced a September 29, 2025, joint agency roundtable to discuss regulatory harmonization priorities.[2] This joint statement heralded what officials described as “a new day at the SEC and the CFTC” that seeks to provide markets the clarity they deserve and highlights the innovations that greater harmonization of SEC and CFTC regulatory frameworks can unleash.[2]
Additionally, the SEC established a Crypto Task Force in early 2025, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce. On February 4, 2025, Commissioner Peirce published a statement outlining the Task Force’s 10 main areas of focus, which include the security status of digital assets, defining the SEC’s jurisdiction, relief for token offerings, registration issues, and a path forward for broker-dealers and custodying digital assets.[2] This task force represents an internal coordination effort within the SEC to develop a more coherent approach to cryptocurrency regulation.
The Stablecoin Regulatory Framework
One area where coordinated government planning is particularly evident is in stablecoin regulation. Congress passed the bipartisan GENIUS Act, or Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, which was launched in July 2025.[5] This legislation represents a coordinated effort to address vulnerabilities in the largely unregulated stablecoin market. The act permits four federal agencies and agencies in each state and territory to serve as the primary regulator and supervisor of stablecoin issuers.[6]
The GENIUS Act’s primary tool to mitigate the risk of runs on stablecoins is limiting permissible reserve assets to an itemized list of highly liquid assets. This represents a significant improvement in an area where reserve assets for stablecoins have been highly varied. Tight control over reserve assets, coupled with supervision, capital and liquidity requirements, and other measures, could enhance the stability of stablecoins and make them a more viable payment instruments over the long term.[6]
However, Federal Reserve Governor Barr noted that success in accomplishing these goals will depend on the details of regulatory implementation. The GENIUS Act provides a helpful statutory framework, but it will be up to both the federal banking agencies and the states to coordinate and develop a comprehensive set of rules that can fill in important gaps and ensure that there are robust guardrails to protect users of stablecoins and mitigate broader risks to the financial system.[6]
International Regulatory Developments
While the United States has been particularly active in developing coordinated cryptocurrency regulations, other jurisdictions have also been moving forward with comprehensive frameworks. Bermuda, for example, has pioneered one of the world’s first comprehensive regulatory frameworks for digital assets. The Bermuda Monetary Authority, or BMA, has implemented the Digital Asset Business Act, or DABA, which specifies the digital asset-related activities to which it applies, imposes a licensing requirement on any person carrying on any of those activities, lays out the criteria a person must meet before it can obtain