U.S. crypto sector presses Clarity Act bad-actor provisions as Senate timeline tightens

Traders Union
All News
Crypto News
Crypto sector pushes Clarity Act

Highlights

Senator Cynthia Lummis claims the Senate's latest Clarity Act draft imposes stronger Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, and sanctions standards on crypto exchanges.
With fewer than eight Senate floor weeks before the midterm break, Lummis warns that failure to pass crypto legislation in 2024 could delay further action until 2030.
A coalition including 160 former law enforcement officials backs the bill, but it faces criticism from groups like the Revolving Door Project and hesitance from key Senate Democrats.

Senate window sharpens focus on enforcement clauses

As reported by CoinDesk, the Blockchain Association holds an online event on Thursday with lawmakers and administration officials arguing that the latest Senate version of the Clarity Act strengthens anti-money laundering, sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act standards for digital asset exchanges.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, who leads the Senate Banking Committee's digital assets subcommittee, says the current draft is the most negotiated bipartisan, or nonpartisan, digital asset regulatory framework yet presented publicly in the U.S. She argues that under the current system, exchanges face lower Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements than they would if the bill passes.

Lummis also says the legislative timetable is urgent. She warns that if Congress does not pass the measure this year, it may not get another realistic chance until about 2030, while the Senate has fewer than eight weeks of floor time before a summer break tied to the midterm election season.

Support campaign meets resistance from critics

The industry campaign this week includes a letter backing the bill from 160 former law enforcement officials and meetings between some of them and Senate lawmakers. Supporters are trying to secure the 60 votes needed for passage while answering concerns from Democrats who have worked on the bill but have not yet endorsed it.

The push is also drawing criticism. The Revolving Door Project says the Blockchain Association is trying to mislead senators by highlighting former officials, many of whom it says now work for crypto companies, and it points to concerns raised in early May by the National Sheriffs’ Association and other law-enforcement groups.

Patrick Witt, the White House's chief adviser on crypto, says the bill would impose real regulatory constraints on businesses and actors now operating in uncertainty. Backers of the legislation continue to argue that it lets law enforcement pursue bad actors who publish code with the specific intent of facilitating money laundering, while avoiding a broader crackdown on crypto developers.

Our earlier report on the Supreme Court’s ruling backing the FCC’s in-house fine process explained how the justices preserved the agency’s ability to pursue financial penalties against wireless carriers over alleged misuse of customer location data. The decision reinforced federal regulators’ enforcement toolkit amid ongoing legal challenges to agency adjudication, highlighting how compliance expectations and penalties can tighten across regulated sectors.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.