Original author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Original editor: TB, ChainCatcher
In addition to the GENIUS Act, a special law for stablecoins, another heavyweight chess piece is accelerating on the chessboard of digital asset regulation in the United States. The CLARITY Act, hailed as a "turning point in crypto regulation," may completely rewrite the fate of the U.S. crypto industry.
Over the past few years, U.S. crypto projects, developers, and platforms have been groping their way forward in an environment of unclear regulation. The unclear responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC have led many projects into a dilemma of "trying and breaking the rules". Once they are identified as "unregistered securities offerings", they may be fined at the least, or face a life-and-death crisis at the worst.
The emergence of the CLARITY Act not only attempts to clarify the regulatory boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC, but is also committed to establishing a predictable and compliant development path for the digital asset industry.
Today, the bill has been unanimously passed by the House Financial Services Committee and the Agriculture Committee, and will be submitted to the House for a vote. This is not only the starting point for the reshaping of the US crypto regulatory framework, but may also become an important critical point for institutions to accelerate their entry and innovation to truly take off.
The CLARITY Act
On May 29, French Hill, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, formally proposed the 236-page CLARITY Act. However, its advancement process has not been smooth.
On June 3, the U.S. SEC was strongly criticized by House Democratic staff for providing a technical briefing on the CLARITY Act, which was called the "worst technical assistance briefing." The staff accused SEC representatives of being unable to answer simple questions and even avoiding key information on the grounds of "confidentiality," questioning whether they were deliberately covering up the truth and obstructing legislation.
At the same time, some Democrats have expressed concerns about Trump's involvement in the crypto industry, questioning whether there may be potential conflicts of interest that could interfere with the legislative process of the bill.
Despite the controversy, the CLARITY Act continues to improve under the promotion of multiple parties. On June 9, under the joint statement of eight major crypto policy organizations, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act was successfully incorporated into the CLARITY Act. This amendment is seen as a "firewall" for DeFi developers, aimed at protecting software developers and infrastructure providers who do not custody customer assets.
In order to further clarify the boundaries of regulatory responsibilities, the Financial Services Committee and the Agriculture Committee reviewed and revised the bill and released their own adjusted versions. Today, both committees passed the bill smoothly. According to Republican lawmakers, the two versions will eventually be merged into a comprehensive bill and submitted to the full House for a vote.
Interpretation of the bill: Laying a clear blueprint for digital asset regulation
The CLARITY Act did not start from scratch, but was continuously improved on the basis of relevant legislation in the past few years, especially the continuation and expansion of the Financial Innovation and Technology Act of the 21st Century (FIT21).
The following is an interpretation of the key points of the bill:
Division of regulatory authority: clarifying the responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC
The core of the CLARITY Act is to clearly define the regulatory scope of the SEC and CFTC based on the nature of digital assets. The SEC regulates "digital asset securities" while the CFTC regulates "digital commodities." For "hybrid" assets that may have characteristics of both securities and commodities, the bill requires the two agencies to coordinate. The goal is to confirm the CFTC as the primary regulator of the digital commodity spot market while retaining the SEC's regulatory authority over security-type digital assets.
According to the interpretation of community member @realMaxAvery, the bill establishes a path: projects can be treated as securities (high concentration and strong investment attributes) in the early stages, and when their decentralization reaches a certain level, they can "graduate" and be regulated as commodities.
One of the highlights is the concept of "mature blockchain system". If a blockchain network is sufficiently decentralized (no single controller, open source code, automatic operation), it can be certified as a "mature system". Once this certification is obtained, its tokens will face more relaxed supervision because they are more like commodities than securities.
DeFi and blockchain actors: new exemptions and boundaries
Developers and operators of decentralized blockchain networks do not need to register with the SEC or CFTC as long as they do not engage in intermediary business. The bill also recognizes that DeFi is different from traditional finance and protects developers from inapplicable financial regulatory constraints. Writing code, running nodes, or providing front-end interfaces are generally not considered financial service providers, which allows developers to build Web3 infrastructure with peace of mind.
However, the bill still retains anti-fraud and anti-manipulation enforcement powers to ensure a balance between innovation and user protection.
Registration of exchanges and intermediaries: Establishing a regulatory system
Platforms operating digital commodity trading markets must register with the CFTC as "digital commodity exchanges," including over-the-counter brokers and market makers. These institutions will be subject to strict federal regulatory requirements, such as minimum capital, risk management, transaction records, regulatory reporting, customer asset protection, etc.
If a company is involved in both securities and digital commodity businesses, it must register with the SEC and CFTC respectively. Although the compliance burden is heavy, the bill clearly defines the regulatory boundaries between the two parties.
Encourage traditional financial institutions to enter the crypto market
The CLARITY Act opens the door for traditional financial institutions to enter the crypto space. Banks can legally provide crypto custody services, and traditional exchanges can operate alternative trading systems that cover both stocks and crypto assets, promoting institutional adoption and helping Wall Street embrace digital assets.
"Clarity" is a dual proposition of reconstruction and breakthrough
Whether it is clarifying the responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC or providing protection for DeFi developers and blockchain innovators, the CLARITY Act has laid a predictable foundation for the industry. But in addition to the voices of support, many concerns have also emerged.
Some crypto-native companies pointed out that the bill may be more beneficial to traditional financial institutions in terms of implementation. For example, large Wall Street companies such as Charles Schwab, which have been registered with the SEC, can quickly carry out digital commodity-related businesses once the bill is implemented; while a large number of crypto-native companies may need to face the unclear and even more cumbersome registration procedures of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This institutional design may invisibly cause unequal "regulatory thresholds".
Nevertheless, the gradual clarification of the regulatory system is still an indispensable part of promoting the maturity of the industry. True "clarity" may mean new challenges, but it also indicates greater room for innovation.
