33: Crypto Policy Explained: What You Need to Know with Zunera Mazhar

For a long time, the honest answer to &quot;how is crypto regulated in the United States?&quot; was some version of &quot;it&#39;s complicated, it&#39;s evolving, the rules aren&#39;t clear yet.&quot; That answer is finally starting to change.In this episode of Crypto, Explained, host Ali Tager sits down with Zunera Mazhar, VP of Policy and Government Affairs at The Digital Chamber, to make sense of where crypto policy actually stands right now. Zunera spent more than two decades across banking and government, including serving at the FDIC as its first Deputy Chief Innovation Officer, so she has watched this shift happen from the inside.Ali and Zunera start with the headline most people have missed: real legislation is moving. The CLARITY Act, the market structure bill that aims to settle who regulates what, cleared the Senate Banking Committee in a bipartisan 15 to 9 vote, and the industry is hopeful it will pass. They also cover the news that crypto derivatives are coming back onshore, and what that means for the billions in liquidity that returns to the U.S.From there, Zunera takes on the biggest misconception she hears, that crypto does not want to be regulated. Coming from a regulator background, she explains why the opposite is true, and why the industry has been asking for clear rules all along. The conversation breaks down why the SEC and the CFTC treat crypto so differently, why Bitcoin gets classified as a commodity while many other tokens look more like securities, and how a tokenized money market fund is closer than you think.The throughline is what all of this means for everyday people. Ali and Zunera talk through the nearly 20 percent of U.S. adults who are unbanked or underbanked, how blockchain solved real access problems overseas before regulation ever caught up, and how someone nervous about getting started can take it slow. The takeaway is simple. Crypto policy in the U.S. is evolving, not disappearing. The space is maturing, not fading. And the people who take the time to understand what is actually happening are the ones who will feel most confident navigating it.What We Discuss:⁠0:00⁠ - Intro &amp; Clip: The Crypto Industry DOES Want Regulation ⁠1:01⁠ - The State of Crypto Policy in America ⁠2:29⁠ - Guest Intro: Zunera Mazar, VP of Policy at the Digital Chamber ⁠3:11⁠ - Zunera&#39;s Background &amp; The Digital Chamber ⁠5:09⁠ - What Is MiCA? (EU Crypto Regulation Explained) ⁠6:01⁠ - Where US Crypto Regulation Stands Today (May 2026) ⁠8:18⁠ - Perps Coming Onshore: Historic CFTC Move ⁠14:07⁠ - Biggest Misconceptions About Crypto Regulation ⁠14:07⁠ - SEC vs. CFTC: What&#39;s the Difference? ⁠16:57⁠ - What Everyday Crypto Holders Need to Know <a href="https://www.you