Four Pillars Weekly: Democrats Take Control of Congress, Single-Stock Perpetual Contracts Approved, Where Is U.S. Crypto Policy Heading?

Democrats won control of both chambers in the November 3 U.S. midterm elections, flipping at least seven Senate seats and gaining more than 20 House seats, which dims prospects for the comprehensive CLARITY Act market-structure bill that already failed a 49-50 Senate procedural vote in September 2025 and now faces Democratic demands for stronger consumer protection, illicit-finance controls and conflict-of-interest rules. The shift is expected to intensify scrutiny of the Trump family's crypto ties, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI), its USD1 stablecoin and the TRUMP memecoin, likely steering Congress toward oversight hearings rather than broad legislation. Separately, the CFTC on November 3 cleared single-stock perpetual futures on U.S.-regulated exchanges as security futures under joint SEC-CFTC oversight; Kalshi launched first on November 5 with contracts on more than 50 companies including Nvidia, Meta and Palantir, topping $300 million in early volume, while Kraken's Payward (via Bitomial), Coinbase Derivatives and Crypto.com-linked venues prepare listings. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is backing Hyperliquid-based Trade[XYZ] to build regulated U.S. trading and clearing infrastructure, and Hyperliquid Strategies is seeking an FCM license, though a Cboe- and Citadel-backed coalition has sued to challenge the CFTC's authority. The decisions matter because perpetuals—pioneered offshore on platforms like Hyperliquid—are gaining a regulated U.S. foothold across asset classes and drawing Wall Street into on-chain derivatives. Next to watch: whether the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets and the CFTC's CTX and CAM rulemakings reach final rules, whether the CLARITY Act can be revived with added guardrails, and how the legal challenge to single-stock perps resolves.