FUZE way

Washington is finally sketching a path beyond “regulation by enforcement”—and TradFi is lining up to use it. Here’s what changed this week, why it matters globally, and what builders and investors should do next.
TL;DR
The SEC and CFTC signaled closer coordination and set a Sept. 29, 2025 roundtable on harmonizing crypto rules—an explicit shift toward clarity. SEC+1SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins reinforced the pivot in a Sept. 10 keynote, prioritizing fit‑for‑purpose rules for issuance, custody, and trading. SECThe U.S. Senate is circulating a market‑structure bill draft that would formalize an SEC–CFTC split of responsibilities and protections for devs/users. The BlockNasdaq filed to enable tokenized securities on its main market, underscoring that traditional markets are preparing for chain‑settled assets. ReutersGlobally, policy remains uneven: India resists a full framework, citing systemic‑risk concerns, while research suggests stablecoins could bolster the dollar via broader usage, not T‑bill demand. Reuters+1
The week that nudged U.S. crypto policy forward
After years of headline‑driven enforcement actions and murky guidance, U.S. regulators spent the past ten days doing something surprisingly coordinated.
First, staff at the SEC and CFTC issued a joint statement on Sept. 2 addressing the trading of certain spot crypto products—an explicit, on‑the‑record collaboration. A few days later, the agencies announced a joint roundtable for Sept. 29 focused on regulatory harmonization across DeFi, perpetuals, and 24/7 markets. The tone is telling: “opportunities,” “harmonization,” “facilitating trading.” That’s a different register from the last cycle’s posture. SEC+1
Then on Sept. 10 in Paris, new SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins framed his priorities: clear “rules of the road” for crypto issuance, custody, and trading, with an emphasis on capital formation and investor protection that fits programmable assets rather than forcing them into legacy buckets. The remarks follow his earlier agenda setting and summer orders enabling in‑kind creations/redemptions for crypto ETPs—small but meaningful plumbing for mainstream access. SEC+2SEC+2
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the newest Senate market‑structure bill draft points to a more durable settlement: a joint SEC–CFTC framework that clarifies who does what, builds safe harbors for developers, and addresses perpetuals and 24/7 trading. It’s still a draft—expect revisions—but it’s the most coherent legislative path we’ve seen this year. The Block
And outside the Beltway, Nasdaq filed to list and trade tokenized securities on its main board. Put simply: if the SEC signs off, one of the world’s top exchanges could let capital markets settle on‑chain without tearing up existing surveillance and investor‑protection rules. That’s a strong signal that the pipes of TradFi are being re‑threaded for tokenization. Reuters

What’s actually changing (and what isn’t)
1) From turf wars to interoperability
For years, the SEC and CFTC’s overlapping claims created fog. The fresh joint statements and a scheduled public roundtable don’t resolve jurisdiction—Congress will still need to legislate—but they do lower operational friction for venues, custodians, and product issuers in the near term. Expect more coordinated guidance memos and staff statements through Q4. SEC+1
2) “Fit‑for‑purpose” is moving from slogan to docket
Atkins’ OECD keynote confirms his office’s focus on rules that account for 24/7 settlement, programmable compliance, and crypto‑native market design. That aligns with the agenda items already published and the Commission’s ETP plumbing decisions over the summer. We’re not at full rule text yet, but the direction of travel is clearer. SEC+2SEC+2
3) Tokenization is not a sideshow
Nasdaq’s proposal treats tokenized assets as securities with the same material rights as their traditional counterparts; when that parity exists, they’d trade under the same rulebook. That approach reduces legal novelty to the settlement layer—where blockchains can add efficiency—without reinventing market integrity. Timelines still depend on DTC readiness and SEC approval. Reuters
4) The world won’t harmonize overnight
India’s latest posture—no comprehensive framework for now over systemic‑risk concerns—highlights a fragmented global map. At the same time, research circulating in markets argues that stablecoins may reinforce the dollar’s network effects via usage in trade and payments, not simply by hoovering up T‑bills. Strategy teams will plan for both tightening and loosening regimes across regions. Reuters+1
Why it matters
Capital formation: Clearer federal rails draw issuers and liquidity back onshore. That can lower cost of capital for builders and reduce the “offshore premium” U.S. users often pay. The BlockMarket integrity: Harmonized supervision reduces room for regulatory arbitrage and helps exchanges, brokers, and custodians implement consistent surveillance. SECInstitutional readiness: With in‑kind ETP operations already green‑lit and tokenization on a Tier‑1 exchange under review, institutions can plug in without ripping out their compliance stacks. SEC+1Global competition: Countries that align prudently with dollar‑denominated stablecoin rails may gain in cross‑border commerce; those that don’t risk parallel shadow rails emerging anyway. MarketWatch

Actionable takeaways (for different audiences)
For token projects & DAOs
Start a regulatory posture memo that maps your token’s rights and how (or whether) they mirror securities‑like claims. Parity of rights simplifies listings under tokenization regimes. Reuters
Prepare for auditable on‑chain controls (permissions, disclosures, circuit breakers) that align with harmonization themes ahead of the Sept. 29 roundtable. SEC

For exchanges & brokers
Build a dual‑stack surveillance plan that treats tokenized and traditional instruments consistently where rights are equivalent. Expect additional staff statements that you’ll want to integrate quickly. Reuters+1

For treasurers & funds
If you use stablecoins for settlement, frame the board memo around FX network effects and working‑capital efficiency—not “T‑bill demand”—as per recent analysis. MarketWatch

For developers
Track the Senate draft for safe‑harbor language and developer protections; document supply mechanics, admin keys, and upgradability with production‑grade change logs. The Block

What to watch next
Sept. 29 SEC–CFTC roundtable: Agenda items, any staff‑level takeaways, and timelines for follow‑on guidance. SECSEC docket updates in Q4: Proposed rules (even at concept‑release stage) around custody and market structure. SECNasdaq–SEC correspondence: Comment letters will telegraph sticking points for tokenized settlement. ReutersGlobal divergence: India’s caution vs. pro‑innovation hubs—expect new corporate routing choices as finance chiefs weigh stablecoin rails. Reuters+1
Sources & further reading
SEC/CFTC staff joint statement on spot crypto trading; SEC–CFTC harmonization/roundtable notices. SEC+1SEC Chair Atkins speeches and agenda items (Sept. 10 keynote; regulatory agenda; ETP in‑kind orders). SEC+2SEC+2U.S. Senate market‑structure bill draft coverage. The BlockNasdaq tokenized‑securities filing (Reuters). ReutersStablecoin macro analysis (MarketWatch / Deutsche Bank Research). MarketWatchIndia policy posture (Reuters). Reuters

Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade pushed proto‑danksharding (EIP‑4844) into production to cheapen L2 data availability. Months later, fee compression is still visible — but so are new patterns in traffic spikes, MEV routing, and cross‑rollup liquidity. This brief explains what changed, why it matters, and what to watch.
TL;DR
L2 transaction fees remain structurally lower than pre‑Dencun levels, but short spikes still occur when demand concentrates on a few apps or when blob markets tighten.Cheaper L2 blockspace raises baseline activity (more small txs, more micro‑arbitrage), shifting costs from end‑users to sequencer economics and blob pricing dynamics.Bridges, points programs, and liquidity incentives amplify “event days,” creating bursty traffic that can overwhelm wallets and RPCs even when median fees stay low.Teams should design for spiky rather than steady demand: pre‑signing UX, retry logic, per‑tx fee ceilings, and alternative RPCs reduce abandonment during surges.Over the next quarters, expect shared/decentralized sequencing and better blob market makers to smooth spikes — but watch for new cross‑rollup MEV behaviors.
Context: Dencun’s goal and the L2 fee path
Dencun’s headliner was EIP‑4844 (proto‑danksharding), which introduced blob‑carried data as a cheaper lane for L2s to post transaction data to Ethereum. That pushed the dominant cost component for many rollups down significantly. Because L2 fees are primarily “data availability + sequencing,” any reduction in DA cost translates into cheaper end‑user transactions — swaps, mints, transfers, bridging — and into new classes of feasible on‑chain actions (micropayments, low‑value NFT mints, granular restaking ops, etc.).
Lower fees invite more experiments. Retail users do more small actions, bot traffic scales for arbitrage and liquidations, and builders add UX that would have been uneconomic before. The paradox is that cheaper blockspace frequently increases demand, so networks still see spikes even as medians fall.
What’s new (last 24 hours — patterns we observed)
Concentration matters. When attention converges on a single mint or incentive window, fee spikes reappear on the busiest rollups while others remain calm. Users who preset max‑fees or have retry logic clear faster than those relying on wallet defaults.RPC and wallet bottlenecks, not just base fees. A portion of user complaints in the last day stemmed from rate‑limited RPCs and provider‑side throttling rather than raw gas costs. This is a systems problem (load‑balancing, caching, fallback URLs) as much as a fee problem.Liquidity routing reshuffles. As fees compress, cross‑rollup arbitrage equalizes faster. Liquidity rushes to venues that list hot pairs and expose incentives; spreads tighten quickly post‑listing, but the first minutes remain path‑dependent for traders.Blob price sensitivity. Short‑lived increases in blob base pricing can ripple into L2 fees even when on‑chain demand looks stable. App teams should monitor blob markets alongside their own mempools.
Note: The above focuses on observable behaviors and best‑practice guidance rather than single‑venue price calls.
Why it matters (users, builders, regulators, markets)
Users. Lower average fees unlock everyday actions, but the user experience during surges is the difference between “crypto works” and “crypto is broken.” Design for retries, sensible max‑fees, and clear error messaging.
Builders. Economics shifted from “optimize every byte” to “optimize for volatility.” That means resilient RPCs, queuing in front‑ends, circuit breakers for fee spikes, and client‑side bundles that cache state. The cheapest transaction is the one a user doesn’t have to retry.
Regulators. Consumer protection hinges on predictable UX. Variable fees are normal, but black‑box failures (frozen UIs, failed withdrawals, misleading balance states) are not. Post‑incident communications, status pages, and verifiable transparency (attestation of downtime, queue depths) are becoming baseline expectations.
Markets. With lower DA costs, apps that were fee‑capped suddenly scale; transaction count rises, and venues compete on latency + inventory rather than raw fee edges. Expect price discovery to cluster around venues that integrate L2s cleanly with stable bridges and unified margin.
Risks & counterpoints
Spike amplification via incentives. Points programs and emissions can create synchronized behavior: everyone acts at the same minute. Counterpoint: well‑designed rolling windows and randomized eligibility reduce peak load without shrinking participation.Sequencer centralization optics. Even if fees are low, a single sequencer outage can dominate sentiment. Teams are moving toward decentralizing sequencing and exploring shared markets — but until then, publish clear RTO/RPO targets and practice failovers.Blob market volatility. As more L2s rely on blob capacity, short‑term price swings may occasionally offset fee gains. The fix isn’t manual fee caps; it’s deeper market making for blob supply and better forecasting of event traffic.Wallet UX debt. If wallets don’t expose fee ceilings, fallback RPCs, and “safe retry” flows, lower protocol fees won’t translate into better experiences.
What to watch next (timelines & milestones)
Shared / decentralized sequencers (this year): Roadmaps to diversify proposers/relays and reduce single‑point outages. Watch announcements of pilot networks and cross‑rollup sequencing markets.Blob market depth (quarterly): More sophisticated makers and hedging tools to keep DA prices stable during bursts.Bridge reliability and unified UX (ongoing): Fast‑finality bridges with clear failure modes; fewer “stuck transfer” stories on event days.App‑level SLOs (this quarter): Public SLOs for latency, success rates, and incident reporting for dapps that touch funds.Fee‑aware design patterns (ongoing): Pre‑signing, gas escrow, and “retry‑friendly” UI patterns that keep users informed.
Practical checklist (for the next 48 hours)
Add a fee ceiling control to critical flows (swaps/withdrawals) and surface it in the UI.Ship retry logic with randomized backoff and multiple RPC endpoints.Publish a status page that includes RPC health and bridge latency.Instrument blob price monitors; alert when thresholds imply UX risk.For events/mints: stagger eligibility windows or use commit‑reveal to flatten peaks.Document recovery steps for stuck states and sign‑post them in‑app.Communicate proactively on X/Telegram when spikes happen; share ETAs and workarounds.
Closing takeaway
Dencun did what it was supposed to: it made L2s materially cheaper. The next phase isn’t about squeezing another 5% off median fees; it’s about making the worst minutes acceptable. Teams that design for bursts — with resilient infra, wallet‑friendly UX, and transparent ops — will convert cheaper blockspace into retained users.