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160 Ex-Officials Push Senate to Pass Crypto CLARITY Act
Blockchain Association letter backed by 160 ex-officials pushes CLARITY Act. The bill would shift crypto spot oversight to CFTC, narrowing SEC jurisdiction. Which tokens stand to gain.
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The Blockchain Association sent a letter Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, urging passage of the long-awaited CLARITY Act. The letter carries the signatures of 160 former national security, intelligence, and law enforcement professionals – a signal that the bill's backers are framing it as a matter of national interest, not industry lobbying.
The CLARITY Act and the National Security Angle
The CLARITY Act has circulated in various forms since 2022, yet it has never reached a floor vote. The bill's core mechanism is jurisdictional: it would assign primary oversight of digital asset spot markets to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while curbing the Securities and Exchange Commission's authority over tokens that function more like commodities than securities. That distinction matters for enforcement and for the compliance cost structure of every major crypto exchange.
The involvement of former officials from national security and law enforcement suggests the bill's sponsors are leaning on anti-money-laundering and sanctions enforcement arguments. A clearer classification regime, they argue, makes it easier for exchanges to comply with Bank Secrecy Act obligations and harder for illicit actors to exploit regulatory gray areas. That framing is designed to neutralize opposition from senators who view crypto primarily as a vehicle for ransomware and evasion.
Which Crypto Sectors Stand to Gain
The read-through is most direct for US-based crypto exchanges and custodians. The CLARITY Act does not touch stablecoin reserves or tax treatment, yet it removes one large legal overhang: the risk that a token trading on a platform could retroactively be deemed a security. That threat has driven up legal budgets and limited the number of tokens US exchanges list relative to offshore competitors.