Crypto’s Regulatory Overhaul Crawls Through Years of Policy Creation: Why This Slow-Motion Revolution Could Reshape Finance

Forget overnight transformation. The crypto industry's long-awaited regulatory overhaul is shaping up as a marathon, not a sprint—and insiders say the slow grind could stretch for years.

The Policy Labyrinth

Building a new financial rulebook from scratch doesn't happen with a single vote. Multiple agencies, conflicting international approaches, and sheer technological complexity create a bureaucratic maze. Each proposed clause, each defined term, becomes a battlefield.

Why Speed Kills (Innovation)

Rushed regulations often misfire—just look at some legacy financial frameworks that treat blockchain like a fax machine. The deliberate pace aims to avoid kneejerk rules that could stifle the very innovation regulators claim to protect. It's a delicate dance between consumer safety and technological progress.

The Waiting Game's Hidden Cost

While policymakers debate, the market doesn't stand still. Projects operate in gray zones, institutional money hesitates at the door, and the regulatory uncertainty itself becomes a tax on growth. The industry's biggest players are already lobbying—because in finance, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.

This slow-motion rulemaking might frustrate crypto natives craving clarity, but it signals something profound: regulators finally see digital assets as permanent, not passing. The overhaul isn't a question of 'if' anymore—it's a grinding 'how' that will define finance for decades. Sometimes the most revolutionary changes move at a bureaucrat's pace.

Lawmakers Unveil Draft Bill

On January 13, 2026, US senators released a draft bill meant to clarify which tokens are securities or commodities and to set who regulates spot crypto trading.

The draft would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over many spot markets and includes measures aimed at limiting how stablecoins are used to pay interest, among other provisions.

Rulemaking Could Stretch For Years

Slaughter pointed out that the bill would require about 45 separate, detailed rules to be written by regulators before its goals could be fully enforced.

That is a heavy technical lift. He compared the likely timeline to rules written after the Dodd-Frank law, which took roughly three to eight years to be finalized for many parts of the financial system.

Ok, so here are the main takeaways I have.

First, this bill is still missing a lot of things. There’s nothing at all on ethics (which is going to be a big hang-up for people) nor is there anything on a quorum requirement for the Commissions. The Dems won’t sign a bill that… https://t.co/2ckoCO6QlW

— Justin Slaughter (@JBSDC) January 14, 2026

That comparison matters because it shows how slow the work can be even when lawmakers act quickly. Agencies must draft proposals, take public comments, revise drafts, and then publish final rules. Each step can be delayed by legal challenges, staffing limits, or political shifts.

Exchanges, banks, and stablecoin firms have already begun drafting compliance plans. Some industry players say they prefer the bill’s tilt toward the CFTC for spot oversight, believing it could ease certain market practices.

Others worry that long rulemaking windows will leave uncertainty for months, or even years, while firms try to follow shifting guidance.

Among the likely bottlenecks: fights over who enforces which rules, debates on how decentralized finance fits under old statutes, and political turnover.

Slaughter warned that parts of the rulemaking might span two presidential terms before everything is settled. That would leave the sector operating under a mix of new guidance and legacy rules for a long time.

Regulatory staff at the SEC and CFTC have already ramped up work on crypto issues. The SEC has signaled plans to update long-standing securities rules to better address tokenized instruments.

At the same time, the CFTC is preparing market-structure and custody guidance tied to its growing role. These agency moves will shape the final FORM of the technical rules required by whatever law, if any, becomes binding.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView