Crypto Rulemaking Has FinTech Rushing in, TradFi Waiting to See

The only thing more complicated than paying with cryptocurrency appears to be regulating it.

Despite Washington inching closer to policy clarity for digital assets since President Donald Trump’s reelection, crypto rulemaking in the United States remains as fluid and uncertain as ever.

The industry’s hopes lie in two legislative packages, the GENIUS Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which, respectively, propose first-of-their-kind federal regulatory frameworks for stablecoins and digital asset financial markets. If the bills eventually make their way to Trump’s desk, they could provide clarity to traditional financial players and incumbents as well as FinTechs and more spear-tip ecosystem players, many of whom are already chomping at the bit for a piece of the potential U.S. digital asset marketplace.

Meanwhile, federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are adjusting their postures in real time, with implications for custody, payments and compliance operations in the traditional financial sector.

The executive branch has not been shy about its own embrace of the crypto sector. Speaking at an industry event last week, Vice President J.D. Vance highlighted the sitting administration’s priorities: dismantling restrictive policies, enacting stablecoin legislation, and establishing a comprehensive market structure for digital assets.

Still, the GENIUS Act, which was once promised by Memorial Day, is still working its way through Washington; and the CLARITY Act likely faces a similarly winding journey. In the meantime, existing payments and financial players may find themselves caught in an inflection point: lay the groundwork for blockchain integrations or take a wait-and-see approach.

Read also: Why America’s Biggest Banks Want to Reinvent the Stablecoin

For over a decade, cryptocurrency has largely operated on the fringes of finance — volatile, speculative and unruly. As regulation looms, the hope of the industry is that all that is about to change. In a sign of the changing times, the SEC dismissed its civil enforcement action Thursday (May 29) against entities associated with the Binance crypto exchange, as well as its billionaire founder, Changpeng Zhao.

The agency dropped or paused multiple legal actions against crypto companies, but opposed certain unregistered staking protocols, signaling a pragmatic view toward the industry’s various offerings.

“There’s certainly a change in how the administration views the digital assets industry,” Dan Boyle, partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, told PYMNTS in April. “This is not a confrontational posture.”

“The obvious growth in stablecoins and the fact that you have a lot of issuers ready to be fully compliant, it’s a hard argument for Congress to ignore,” Boyle added.

The marketplace is responding in turn. Stablecoin issuer Circle upsized its initial public offering (IPO) Monday (June 2), raising the expected price from the $24 to $26 per share it announced Tuesday (May 27) to $27 to $28 per share.

Meanwhile, payments firm Stripe reportedly held initial talks with banks about using stablecoins. Stripe is among several companies in the FinTech space — including PayPal, FIS and Fiserv — that are using stablecoins as a method of payment; not just something used in crypto trading.

Worldpay teamed with cryptocurrency bank BNVK Tuesday to promote stablecoin payouts; while stablecoin-focused cross-border payments platform Conduit announced Wednesday (May 28) that it raised $36 million in new funding.

See also: Customer Needs Remain North Star for Stablecoin Payment Innovation

For traditional payment providers and settlement institutions, this creates a paradox. On one hand, stablecoins offer faster and cheaper settlement, potentially unlocking efficiencies in cross-border payments. On the other hand, without clear regulatory cover, stablecoin use exposes banks to counterparty and reputational risks.

The uncertainty plaguing today’s operating landscape can also be a headwind to experimentation. Data from the PYMNTS Intelligence May 2025 Certainty Project report revealed that 8 in 10 product leaders said tariffs have forced them to redirect their focus to short-term fixes over long-term strategies, meaning innovation initiatives are taking a back seat to cost-trimming measures.

As with all inflection points in finance, the winners will be those who can read the signs and act accordingly. In the era of digital assets, that may mean embracing the promise and the perimeter of regulation.

After all, some of the world’s largest banks are doing anything but standing still.

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