Patrick McHenry sees a lame-duck window for CLARITY

CoinDesk's The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti open on a busy policy week from the UK's FCA opening its crypto firm authorization process to the SEC's new staff FAQ on crypto asset classification, and Robinhood's launch of AI agents that trade for retail customers.

They then sit down with former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, who argues the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate because of election-year politics rather than substance and could still get done in the post-midterm lame duck, and weighs in on who should be accountable when an AI trading agent goes wrong and on the Supreme Court fight over sports prediction markets.

Plus, Rebecca and Renato debrief on the SEC's shrinking commissioner ranks and name departing Commissioner Hester Peirce as their Person of the Week.

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Chapters/Timecodes:

00:00 Welcome to The Policy Protocol

01:56 UK's FCA Opens Crypto Authorizations

03:08 SEC's Crypto FAQ and the Buyback Rewrite

05:11 Robinhood's AI Agents and the Accountability Question

08:08 Chairman Patrick McHenry Joins the Show

08:47 Why CLARITY Stalled in the Senate

09:35 Can the Lame Duck Save Market Structure?

10:45 Narrow Crypto Bills vs. the Whole Enchilada

12:47 When an AI Agent Trades, Who's Liable?

14:27 Custody Rules and a Forward-Leaning SEC

15:26 Prediction Markets: Investing or Gambling?

16:26 CFTC Authority and the Supreme Court Fight

19:34 The Legacy of Commissioner Hester Peirce