Crypto and AI policy scorecard, October 2026: Congress stalls, regulators move

The scorecard

The table below summarizes where each item stood on October 6, 2026. The live policy tracker carries the full detail, sources and our latest coverage for each one, and we update it as things move.

Congress stalled, so the agencies are setting the rules

The CLARITY Act passed the House 294-134 in July 2025 and was supposed to draw the line between the SEC and CFTC. On September 15, 2026 a Senate cloture vote fell 49-50, eleven short of the 60 needed. Reporting on the vote points to two fights: ethics rules covering officials’ crypto holdings, and whether stablecoins can pay yield. A motion to reconsider keeps a lame duck revival technically possible, but law firm commentary since the vote treats the bill as unlikely to pass this Congress.

The vacuum is being filled by rulemaking. The SEC and CFTC published a joint interpretation in March sorting tokens into five categories. In August the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, a safe harbor for when a token stops being an investment contract plus tiered fundraising exemptions. In September it granted a five-year innovation exemption for on-chain trading of tokenized US stocks, and on October 1 it proposed custody rules for advisers and funds holding crypto. The CFTC followed on October 5 with Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM, which would let registered platforms offer leveraged and margined retail crypto trading under a federal framework.

For markets, the practical effect is that US crypto businesses are getting rules, but rules that a future SEC or CFTC can rewrite. That is a weaker footing than a statute, and it is why the CLARITY fight is likely to return in 2027.

Stablecoins: the most settled corner

Stablecoins have the clearest path of any area we track. The GENIUS Act is law. The agencies missed the statute’s July 18, 2026 deadline for implementing rules, but the OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve and Treasury have all now published proposals, and Treasury issued an interim final rule on September 30 letting issuers with $10 billion or less outstanding opt for state oversight. The law takes effect on January 18, 2027 at the latest, or earlier if final rules land first.

Abroad, Hong Kong’s monetary authority granted its first two issuer licences in April, to HSBC and to Anchorpoint Financial, a venture of Standard Chartered, HKT and Animoca Brands. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority finalised its stablecoin and wider crypto rules on June 30, with applications open until February 28, 2027. In the EU, MiCA has applied in full since July 1, 2026.

Two open questions remain. The Basel Committee’s review of how banks hold crypto, including stablecoins, has not yet produced a consultation. And the Fed’s proposed payment accounts for nonbank firms, which would give some crypto companies direct access to Fed rails, are still awaiting a final rule.

AI policy: delay rather than new rules

AI regulation moved in the opposite direction in 2026. The EU’s Digital Omnibus amendments, in force since July 29, pushed the AI Act’s high-risk obligations back to December 2027 and August 2028, although new labelling duties for synthetic content still start on December 2, 2026. In the US, a December 2025 executive order created a Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws, but no case had been filed by September and a bipartisan bill to preempt state rules for three years has stalled. Colorado’s rewritten AI Act will take effect on January 1, 2027 regardless.

Chip export controls are the AI policy with the most direct market impact. Since December 2025, Nvidia has been allowed to sell H200 chips to approved Chinese buyers in exchange for a 25% revenue share to the US government. Beijing has approved only limited batches, and Blackwell-class chips remain banned. Any change on either side will show up in Nvidia’s guidance first.

Dates to watch

• October 20, 2026: comments close on the SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets.
• November 2026: the OCC’s target for a final GENIUS Act rule; the post-election lame duck session opens a window for the CLARITY Act.
• Early December 2026: comment periods end for the CFTC’s leveraged trading proposal and the SEC’s custody proposal.
• December 2, 2026: EU AI Act labelling duties apply.
• January 1, 2027: Colorado’s AI Act takes effect.
• January 18, 2027: latest date the GENIUS Act takes effect.
• February 28, 2027: UK crypto authorisation window closes.

Every date is also on the BlockWest markets calendar where it overlaps with market events.

Methodology. BlockWest tracks 16 laws, rulemakings and regulatory programs that directly affect digital asset markets or AI companies. Each is rated in force, in progress or stalled, based on agency releases, legislative records and reporting from CNBC, CoinDesk, The Block, Forbes and law firm client alerts, all reviewed on October 6, 2026. Sources for each item are listed on the policy tracker. This report is for information only and is not legal or investment advice.