The U.S. Senate Banking Committee advanced legislation last week that seeks to establish clear rules for digital assets.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633) seeks to provide market participants with:
- Educational materials to understand key digital asset risks, relevant reporting and disclosure requirements, and how to spot and report fraud.
- Financial literacy provisions that require regulators to coordinate and develop a strategy with measurable goals for improvement.
- Coordination across regulators, along with digital asset industry and academic representatives, to provide recommendations that promote consistent, enforceable standards.
- Timely disclosure requirements to provide information needed to make informed investment decisions.
- Resale restrictions that reduce volatility and prevent company insiders from engaging in pump-and-dump schemes that harm everyday investors.
- Full preservation of anti-fraud authorities, ensuring bad actors remain accountable under federal law.
- Regulatory clarity that reduces risk by ensuring that digital assets are brought into the United States regulatory framework.
“We had a serious debate, worked through real differences, and came together around a shared goal: protecting consumers, supporting innovation, and keeping the future of finance in America,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said. “This legislation brings digital assets into the sunlight with clear rules, stronger safeguards, and better tools to stop bad actors.”
The bill advanced out of committee today by a vote of 15-9 and now moves to the Senate floor. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill last year with bipartisan support.
“This landmark bill brings long-overdue certainty to the digital asset ecosystem and solidifies the United States as the global leader in the future of blockchain use in financial services. A clear framework will protect consumers, encourage responsible innovation, and keep investment and technological development here in the United States,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) said. “We look forward to continuing to work with our Senate colleagues as the Banking and Agriculture Committees finalize the CLARITY Act and advance this historic legislation to the Senate floor.”
The bill garnered the support of the Blockchain Association.
“For too long, regulatory uncertainty has sent talent, investment, and innovation overseas – strengthening foreign competitors while leaving American builders without the certainty they need to compete. The Clarity Act is an opportunity to reverse that trend, reshore the next generation of financial technology jobs, and ensure digital asset markets are built here in the United States under American values: consumer protection, open markets, individual freedom, and the rule of law,” Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger said.
Financial trade industry groups, including the Consumer Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Financial Services Forum, Independent Community Bankers of America, and National Bankers Association, said the bill features significant improvements over previous versions. They would also like to see more tweaks before it is adopted.
“The banking industry continues to believe that the Clarity Act should be strengthened further by tightening the prohibition on interest-like rewards for holding stablecoin while also allowing certain payment stablecoin transactions and activities to generate rewards. Without the necessary guardrails, stablecoin offerings are expected to draw away bank deposits and threaten local lending and economic activity across the country. In that spirit, we will continue to work with senators in good faith to address this issue and improve the bill and its chances on the Senate floor,” the groups said in a joint statement.