A surviving piece of FTX has become part of the case for clearer U.S. crypto rules, according to Bullish’s Randi Abernethy, who argues that digital assets are now close enough to mainstream finance that they should be governed by the same kind of legal framework.
In a CoinDesk opinion piece, Abernethy points to the broader lesson from the collapse of FTX and the industry’s evolution since then: as crypto products, venues and participants increasingly resemble traditional market structures, the regulatory approach should follow suit. Her argument is tied to the CLARITY Act, the proposed legislative effort aimed at drawing cleaner lines for how digital assets are regulated in the United States.
The core thesis is straightforward. Rules designed to protect established financial markets should not stop at equities, bonds or other legacy instruments if digital assets are being used and traded in ways that look increasingly similar. In that view, the issue is less about treating crypto as something exceptional and more about folding it into a familiar legal and supervisory framework.
That argument may resonate with policymakers and market participants who see the post-FTX environment as a turning point. The collapse exposed gaps in oversight, venue governance and investor protections, and those concerns have continued to shape the policy debate. Supporters of broader legislation say the absence of clear rules has left firms and users operating in an uncertain environment, even as crypto firms seek closer links with conventional finance.
The piece does not present the CLARITY Act as a finished solution, and the broader regulatory debate remains unsettled. But it frames the legislation as a response to a market reality that is already underway: digital assets are converging with traditional markets, and the legal framework should reflect that shift.
For now, the significance of the argument is political as much as regulatory. If crypto is entering a more integrated phase with mainstream finance, then questions of jurisdiction, disclosure and market conduct become harder to keep in separate buckets. Abernethy’s view suggests that the lesson from FTX is not just about failure in crypto, but about the need for rules that can handle a market that no longer sits entirely outside the financial system.
CoinDesk published the opinion on Aug. 8, 2026.
