ChainThink report, on December 27, as the Trump administration enters its second year in office, the U.S. crypto regulatory landscape is shifting. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), previously engaged in jurisdictional disputes, are now moving toward tighter collaboration to advance crypto regulation jointly.

The SEC Chair Paul Atkins is driving forward the "Token Classification Framework," Project Crypto, and an innovation safe harbor mechanism, has already approved listing standards for multiple types of crypto ETFs, and has prioritized asset tokenization within its regulatory agenda.

The CFTC is accelerating regulatory clarity through its "Crypto Sprint" initiative, and with the appointment of new Chair Michael Selig, it is expected to play a more central role in regulating crypto commodities such as Bitcoin.

Industry observers believe that by 2026, U.S. crypto regulation will follow a dual-track model: SEC-driven institutional innovation paired with CFTC-led market expansion. Former SEC senior attorney Howard Fischer noted this marks the first time he can recall the two agencies collaborating at such a high level on crypto regulation, and anticipates this partnership will dominate the regulatory agenda in 2026.