Peter Van Valkenburgh, Executive Director of the Coin Center, warned that prioritizing "short-term business profits" over the passage of the CLARITY Act could make the cryptocurrency industry more vulnerable to additional enforcement actions under a future unfriendly administration.
The key concern raised by this nonprofit organization relates to the developer protections included in the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. This bill aims to clarify that non-custodial software developers are not considered money transmitters.
Van Valkenburg argued that this legislation aims to 'bind the hands of the next administration' through legal protections rather than relying on the current regulatory-friendly atmosphere. He stated that without such safeguards, the industry is exposed to 'discretion of inspectors, political trends, and fears.'
The stablecoin interest conflict is blocking progress.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is still stuck in the Senate Banking Committee despite the compromise between Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Angela Alsobrooks regarding the stablecoin interest provisions on March 20.
The agreement reached by the two parties allows for activity-based rewards instead of banning passive interest earned simply from holding stablecoins.
Industry stakeholders who reviewed the draft wording on March 23 assessed that the relevant expressions are "too narrow." Coinbase publicly opposed the compromise, and Coin Center policy director Jason Somensatto pointed out that the stablecoin interest debate is a "major blocker" hindering the bill's progress.
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Developer protection provisions, uncertain future
Van Valkenburg warned that if legislative clarity is not secured, the Ministry of Justice could strengthen enforcement by considering privacy tool developers as unregistered remittance businesses.
These concerns are connected to the criticism of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who stepped down on January 20, 2025. Gensler has faced industry criticism for pushing policies through enforcement actions rather than formal rulemaking.
The CLARITY bill must go through five consecutive procedures to reach the President's signature: markup by the Senate Banking Committee (targeting late April), passing the Senate floor with 60 votes, reconciliation with the agriculture committee version, readjustment with the version passed by the House, and finally, the President's signature.
Senator Bernie Moreno stated that if this bill does not make progress by May, cryptocurrency-related legislation could be delayed for years.
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