Tokenization and stablecoins may weather Democrats' sweep as broader crypto rules face uncertainty

Wall Street's plans to put stocks, bonds and funds on blockchain rails, along with growing stablecoin payments businesses, may have a better chance of weathering Democrats' midterm sweep than other corners of crypto.

Both can move ahead under existing laws, even as Washington's broader digital asset agenda and President Donald Trump's claim to make the U.S. the world's crypto capital face a tougher political landscape, industry experts told CoinDesk Wednesday.

Peter Curley, head of global regulatory affairs at tokenization firm Ondo Finance , said he expects the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to face more congressional questioning but sees little reason for tokenized securities to grind to a halt.

“The agencies have already made substantial progress without new legislation, and we expect that work to continue, particularly in tokenized securities and derivatives markets where established regulatory frameworks already exist,” Curley said.

Progress in tokenized financial markets could follow a different timetable from the broader crypto policy debate, he added.

Aaron Kaplan, CEO of regulated digital asset firm Prometheum, also expects business to continue. Broker-dealers are exploring crypto offerings for brokerage accounts, securities issuers are developing tokenization strategies and international trading venues are looking at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s (DTCC) tokenization service as a route to offering tokenized U.S. equities abroad, he said.

“The future of this industry isn't about waiting for new legislation,” Kaplan said. “It's about utilizing the securities laws we already have.”

Stablecoins offer another example of how earlier legislative progress could insulate parts of crypto from political change. The GENIUS Act, which passed with bipartisan support in 2025, created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to back their tokens with liquid reserves and comply with federal or state oversight.

“GENIUS passed with Democratic votes and takes effect on January 18, fifteen days after the new Congress is seated, so issuers have a statute to work from,” said Abhishek Vaidyanathan, chief legal officer of the NEAR Foundation.

“The rest of the market continues on existing law, interpretations and proposed rules,” he added.

SEC and CFTC rules face a durability test

U.S. regulatory agencies have spent much of 2026 developing rules without comprehensive legislation, filling the gaps left by Congress and the lack of broader digital asset rules.

The SEC has proposed bringing blockchain tech into transfer-agent rules, an exemption for venues trading tokenized securities and Regulation Crypto Assets, which would ease certain requirements for crypto offerings. The CFTC has also advanced work on perpetual futures, a crypto-style derivative that lets traders bet on prices without an expiration date.

Democrats' victory now raises questions about how much of that agenda regulators can finalize before Trump's term ends.

Elizabeth Lan Davis, who leads the commodities and derivatives practice at Davis Wright Tremaine and previously served as a chief trial attorney at the CFTC, expects the election to decelerate on the agencies' work.

“The pace of rulemaking and the finalization of currently proposed rules for all of these areas will likely slow dramatically, especially if Democratic commissioners are appointed,” she said.

Kris Swiatek, a partner at Seward & Kissel, said he sees less disruption.

“I don't expect the midterms to materially slow the digital asset agenda at the SEC or CFTC,” he said.

Democratic control will likely bring greater scrutiny of the agencies' authority and rulemaking process, Swiatek said, but regulators can continue working under existing law.

Both lawyers see a bigger question hanging over the rules: how long they will last.

Guidance can be withdrawn by a future administration, while formal regulations take more time to reverse, they said, adding that changes in commission membership could also complicate efforts to finalize rules before Trump's term ends.

"The real question is how much sticking power those efforts have through an administration change," Davis said. "That said, it does take some time to unwind rules, so those effects are not likely to be immediate.

Federal crypto rules faces a tougher road

Democratic control of Congress further dims the prospects for comprehensive crypto legislation after the Clarity Act failed to advance, Near Foundation's Vaidyanathan said.

A future bill could retain the basic division of oversight between the SEC and CFTC, he said, while adding tougher provisions on illicit finance and conflicts of interest involving elected officials.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) could face the sharpest disagreements, Vaidyanathan added.

Democratic proposals have sought broader oversight of those who design, control or profit from applications through which users access decentralized protocols, raising questions about protections for software developers, he said.