Crypto▼ Bearish
CLARITY Act odds sink to 30% despite police backing
The Major Cities Chiefs Association endorsed the bill. Polymarket odds sit at 30%. Stablecoin rules and an ethics clause for lawmakers remain unresolved before the recess.
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The Major Cities Chiefs Association endorsed the latest CLARITY Act draft. Polymarket traders put the odds of President Donald Trump signing it in 2026 at 30%. The Senate has until its scheduled Aug. 7 recess to agree on stablecoin rules and DeFi liability. A political ethics clause for lawmakers remains unresolved. The CLARITY Act has faced multiple delays, with odds previously sinking to 27% after the Senate delayed a markup.
MCCA sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and ranking member Elizabeth Warren. The group said recent revisions addressed concerns raised by police and prosecutors. It pointed to new law-enforcement provisions in Sections 10203 through 10309.
'The inclusion of these provisions represents a meaningful step toward improving the ability of law enforcement to investigate financial crimes involving digital assets,' the association wrote.
Several other police organizations have joined the MCCA in moving toward supporting the bill. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives was the first major police association to endorse it. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association later offered conditional support. It requested stronger rules for DeFi accountability. The National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents more than 382,000 officers, reversed its previous opposition after reviewing revisions to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provisions. Major County Sheriffs of America stopped short of endorsing the legislation. The group withdrew its formal opposition and adopted a neutral position. It asked Congress to give state and local agencies a role in Treasury studies and advisory panels.
Earlier law-enforcement resistance focused on the CLARITY Act's treatment of non-custodial crypto developers. The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act language generally protects developers and infrastructure providers from being classified as money transmitters when they do not control customer funds. Supporters say those protections prevent programmers from being prosecuted solely because criminals use open-source software.
Police groups and prosecutors argued the earlier wording was too broad. They warned that DeFi operators and mixers could use the exemption to avoid registration and accountability. The exemption would make it harder to trace illicit funds or recover assets for victims, they said. Revisions clarified that developers can still face prosecution when they knowingly or intentionally facilitate money laundering and other crimes. The updated draft also preserves existing criminal-enforcement powers and gives state and local agencies a larger role.