Elliptic’s 2026 Regulatory and Policy Outlook: US Sets the Pace

In this piece for Elliptic, author David Carlisle shares how US regulatory and policy shifts in 2025 reshaped the global crypto landscape. The Trump administration prioritized US leadership in digital assets, regulators moved toward engagement rather than enforcement, banks were cleared to work with cryptoassets, and the GENIUS Act established a formal US stablecoin framework, prompting other jurisdictions to accelerate their own crypto agendas.

Carlisle explains that 2026 will mark the transition of US stablecoin regulation from concept to implementation. Agencies must finalize rules for dollar-backed stablecoin issuers by mid-2026, with enforcement beginning in early 2027, shaping compliance strategies and influencing how financial institutions prepare for entry into stablecoin markets.

The piece highlights how US rulemaking will have global spillover effects, particularly in financial crime compliance. FinCEN’s forthcoming guidance on AML/CFT obligations, transaction monitoring, and illicit finance risks is expected to inform international standards and influence how regulators worldwide design stablecoin oversight regimes.

Beyond stablecoins, Carlisle examines broader US crypto policy, including the uncertain future of the CLARITY Act and the growing role of regulators in promoting innovation through guidance rather than enforcement. He also notes expanding US bank involvement in crypto custody, payments, tokenization, and stablecoin issuance, developments likely to push regulators globally to adapt banking frameworks for a digitized financial system…

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