SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the agency is ready, willing and able to write its own crypto market rules if Congress fails to pass the CLARITY Act, the comments coming in a CNBC interview this week.

The CLARITY Act would move most spot-token oversight to the CFTC and away from the SEC. It passed the House and cleared a Senate committee, but still awaits a full Senate floor vote that has slipped as the chamber turns to other priorities before recess.

Atkins stressed he still prefers a law, calling a statute the only way to make the rules durable across administrations so they do not shift with each new one. For now the SEC is only signaling readiness, not opening any formal rulemaking of its own. It is a notable backstop posture from a pro-crypto chair, and no company or token is being targeted.