For most of cryptocurrency’s history, the industry has existed somewhere between the traditional financial system and an alternative to it. Crypto companies built exchanges, wallets, payment networks and digital currencies while regulators attempted to determine which existing financial rules applied to technology that did not fit neatly into traditional categories. That may finally be changing.

On August 8, Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved to advance the CLARITY Act, setting up a key procedural vote when the Senate returns from its August recess in mid-September. If the legislation ultimately passes, it would establish the first comprehensive federal framework governing much of the U.S. cryptocurrency industry,…