Wyden Pushes Senate to Keep Developer Exemptions in CLARITY Act

Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to Senate leadership on July 8, 2026, urging them to preserve the full protections of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act heads toward a floor vote. The ask is straightforward: keep Section 604 intact.

The BRCA exempts developers of non-custodial blockchain technology from being classified as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act. Without that protection, a developer writing smart contract code for a decentralized exchange could face the same licensing and compliance requirements as a money transmitter. Custody equals responsibility. No custody means no money transmitter classification.

The DeFi ecosystem stands to gain or lose the most. If Section 604 is stripped, U.S.-based blockchain developers would face legal uncertainty that could push development offshore. The broader crypto market, as tracked in crypto market analysis, has not moved on the news so far.

The CLARITY Act, H.R. 3633, passed the House in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote. The Senate Banking Committee advanced it on May 14, 2026, by a 15-9 margin. The Senate floor vote is expected before the August recess. Analysts tracking the bill put its passage odds at roughly 45%.

Wyden's letter could help keep Section 604 in the bill. The Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund have publicly supported retaining the BRCA provisions. The risk is not the bill's outright failure. It is a version of the CLARITY Act that passes without Section 604, leaving developer protections on the cutting room floor to secure enough votes.

Wyden reintroduced the BRCA alongside Senator Cynthia Lummis on Jan. 12, 2026. The bill's provisions align with FinCEN guidance from 2019 for entities that do not take custody of funds.