Guotai Junan International Research: The "Genius" Regulatory System of the Web3.0 World

The U.S. House of Representatives has held intensive meetings on three heavyweight cryptocurrency bills—the Clarity Act, the Anti-CBDC Act, and the GENIUS Act, which was signed into effect by President Trump on July 18, 2025. These three bills do not operate independently but form a logically coherent and far-reaching regulatory combination aimed at creating a more independent and innovative development environment for the Web3 ecosystem through clear regulatory delineation, limiting the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and regulating the stablecoin market. They not only fill a long-standing regulatory gap but also promote the independent development of decentralized finance and technology ecosystems by redistributing regulatory power, clarifying market rules, and eliminating competition from national digital currencies. These bills not only fill existing regulatory gaps but also pave a unique path for the development of cryptocurrencies and the Web3 ecosystem in the U.S. by redistributing power, clarifying rule boundaries, and excluding potential competition.

Regulatory Framework: From Centralization to Decentralization

The core of the CLARITY Act is to establish a clear regulatory framework for the digital asset market by distinctly categorizing digital assets—securities, commodities, or stablecoins—to delineate the regulatory responsibilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to the Act, digital assets that meet decentralization standards are classified as "digital commodities," which are regulated by the CFTC, while assets that possess characteristics of investment contracts are deemed "digital asset securities" and continue to be regulated by the SEC. This classification addresses the long-standing legal uncertainty surrounding crypto assets due to unclear regulatory jurisdiction. However, the criteria for determining "decentralization" are ambiguous, leading to some assets being subject to dual regulation by both the SEC and the CFTC, or falling into a regulatory void due to gaps in rules. This increases compliance costs for businesses and presents new challenges for collaboration between regulatory agencies. Nevertheless, the CLARITY Act introduces a more flexible regulatory paradigm for the crypto market by transferring some regulatory authority from the SEC, known for its strictness, to the relatively innovation-friendly CFTC, thereby providing room for innovation within the Web3 ecosystem.

The GENIUS Act focuses on the regulation of stablecoins, aiming to establish the first federal comprehensive regulatory framework for USD-pegged stablecoins. The Act requires stablecoin issuers to obtain federal licenses and ensures that they hold reserves of USD or equivalent liquid assets that correspond 1:1 with the stablecoins, while complying with anti-money laundering and consumer protection regulations. Its regulatory framework tends to integrate stablecoins into the existing banking system, allowing federally chartered banks to issue stablecoins and ensuring their stability through strict reserve and disclosure requirements. This "federal priority" regulatory model centralizes primary regulatory authority within federal agencies, requiring state-level regulation to meet federal standards to participate. The Act paves the way for the legalization of payment systems and decentralized financial applications, complementing the CLARITY Act's broad regulation of digital assets.

The regulatory framework of the Anti-CBDC Act is centered around restrictions, explicitly prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals and from using CBDC to implement monetary policy or other purposes. Unlike the proactive regulation of the CLARITY and GENIUS Acts, the logic of the Anti-CBDC Act is to legislatively exclude government-led digital currencies from being potential competitors in the crypto market. Its regulatory framework does not involve the formulation of specific market rules, but rather sets clear legal boundaries to prevent the Federal Reserve from expanding its direct control over financial markets through CBDC. This restrictive framework sharply contrasts with the constructive regulation of the CLARITY and GENIUS Acts, but it provides important political guarantees for decentralized cryptocurrencies and the Web3 ecosystem by protecting financial privacy and limiting government intervention.

Core Objective: Balancing Innovation, Stability, and Privacy Protection

The core objective of the CLARITY Act is to provide regulatory clarity, reducing legal uncertainty in the cryptocurrency asset market, thereby promoting market development and investor participation. By clarifying the regulatory classification of digital assets, the Act addresses the long-standing "turf war" between the SEC and the CFTC, providing market participants with a predictable compliance pathway. Decentralized assets are classified as commodities regulated by the CFTC, meaning they will face regulation that emphasizes market integrity and risk management, rather than the SEC's strict information disclosure requirements. This division of regulatory responsibilities reduces the compliance burden on decentralized projects and also provides greater space for the development of crypto derivatives. This means that the CLARITY Act supports the decentralized nature of the Web3 ecosystem by pushing regulatory authority towards the CFTC, facilitating its growth in a relatively relaxed regulatory environment.

The core objective of the GENIUS Act is to regulate and promote the development of the stablecoin market, ensuring its applications in payments and DeFi can be conducted safely and compliantly. The Act enhances market trust in stablecoins by requiring issuers to hold sufficient reserves and comply with strict consumer protection measures, attracting more institutional funds into the crypto market. The Act focuses more on financial stability and consumer protection, enhancing the legitimacy and credibility of stablecoins by incorporating them into the banking system. The Act stipulates that stablecoin holders have priority repayment rights in bankruptcy scenarios, a measure that boosts investor confidence. The Act provides a solid foundation for the regulated development of the stablecoin market, creating conditions for the expansion of Web3 payments and financial applications.

The core objective of the Anti-CBDC Act is to protect financial privacy and reduce the possibility of government intervention in individual financial activities through digital assets or the use of digital assets for macroeconomic regulation. The act explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDCs aimed at individuals and restricts its ability to implement monetary policy through digital currencies, reflecting the profound vigilance of some American politicians and the crypto community against centralized financial surveillance. This objective is highly aligned with the original intention behind the birth of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which is to provide a technological means for censorship resistance and privacy protection in financial alternatives. By legislating against potential competition from CBDCs, the Anti-CBDC Act preserves market space for decentralized cryptocurrencies and Web3 applications, avoiding the direct pressure that state digital currencies might bring. Although the act does not directly involve the formulation of market rules, its reinforcement of the "decentralization narrative" provides important political endorsement for the independent development of the Web3 ecosystem.

The Impact on Web3: Building an Independently Developed "American Path"

The CLARITY Act, by shifting the regulatory focus towards the CFTC, will promote the decentralized development of the Web3 ecosystem. The CFTC's more open regulatory style compared to the SEC, especially in its regulatory experience with derivatives markets, makes it more suitable for dealing with the complexities of decentralized assets. The CFTC's focus on market manipulation and systemic risk, rather than strict pre-approval, provides a more lenient innovation environment for Web3 projects such as decentralized exchanges and decentralized autonomous organizations. Furthermore, the Act lays the groundwork for the further development of the crypto derivatives market by clarifying the commodity nature of assets like Bitcoin, attracting more institutional investors.

The GENIUS Act regulates the stablecoin market, providing key support for payments and DeFi applications in Web3. Stablecoins, as "programmable currencies" in the Web3 ecosystem, play a central role in lending, settlement, and tokenized asset markets. The GENIUS Act provides legal assurance for the expansion of these use cases by ensuring the security and compliance of stablecoin reserves. The support from the Act promotes the further expansion of stablecoin applications, such as USDC, in DeFi protocols.

The Anti-CBDC Act, by prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDC, has cleared a potential "national competitor" for the Web3 ecosystem, ensuring market space for decentralized cryptocurrencies in the fields of payment and value storage. The passage of this act strengthens Web3's vision of independence from the traditional centralized financial system, particularly in terms of financial privacy and censorship resistance. By limiting government-led digital currencies, the act indirectly supports the status of decentralized assets like Bitcoin as tools for privacy protection. Furthermore, the political signal from the act further consolidates the confidence of the crypto community that the U.S. will not directly intervene in the crypto ecosystem through CBDC at the federal level. Overall, the Anti-CBDC Act provides important political and market space for the independent development of Web3, promoting its continuous exploration along the path of decentralization.

Bill Synergy: Shaping the Future of Web3 Together

In summary, the three bills mentioned above, through mutual collaboration, have formed a unique regulatory logic chain, paving the "American path" for the independent development of Web3. The CLARITY Act weakens the SEC's strict control over decentralized projects by redefining the regulatory responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC, shifting the regulatory focus towards the more open CFTC and providing space for innovation in Web3. The GENIUS Act legitimizes and stabilizes the Web3 payment and financial applications by regulating the stablecoin market, enhancing market confidence and institutional participation. The Anti-CBDC Act preserves core market areas for decentralized cryptocurrencies and the Web3 ecosystem by excluding competition and interference from national digital currencies, thus avoiding potential threats of government intervention. The combined effect of these three creates a regulatory environment that is complex yet offers greater innovation space, is less constrained by traditional securities regulation, and isolates direct competition from CBDCs, significantly promoting the evolution of the Web3 world towards independence from traditional centralized financial systems.

At the same time, the passage of the CLARITY Act, the GENIUS Act, and the Anti-CBDC Act marks a strategic shift in the regulation of cryptocurrency in the United States. These three bills are not mere policy patches, but rather a combination of complex regulatory decentralization, the normalization of stablecoins, and restrictions on central bank digital currencies, carving out a more independent "experimental field" for the Web3 ecosystem. The CLARITY Act provides a clear regulatory framework for the digital asset market, the GENIUS Act paves the way for the compliant development of stablecoins, and the Anti-CBDC Act safeguards the decentralized ecosystem by protecting financial privacy. Although regulatory complexity and uncertainty remain, these three bills collectively point to a clear future: cryptocurrency derivatives and stablecoins will occupy a central position in the market, the CFTC will play a more important regulatory role, and a Web3 ecosystem that is distanced from central bank control will steadily grow amidst a complex game of rules.