Revised CLARITY Act Targets 'Non-Decentralized' DeFi Operators

Authored by Ezra Reguerra via Cointelegraph,

A revised version of the CLARITY Act would direct United States regulators to determine whether people or groups controlling "non-decentralized finance trading protocols" must comply with securities, commodities and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.

The revised text, posted on Senator Cynthia Lummis' website, defines such a protocol as one whose functionality, operation, or rules can be materially altered by a person or coordinated group. The definition also covers protocols whose controllers can restrict users or whose transactions are not governed solely by transparent, pre-established code.

Under the proposal, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would develop activity-based rules addressing registration, conduct, disclosure, recordkeeping and supervision. Meanwhile, the Treasury would establish how existing Bank Secrecy Act obligations apply to affected controllers.

The bill specifies that software and distributed ledger systems would not be required to register in their own capacity. It also says participation in an incident-response or security council would not, by itself, establish control over a protocol.

The revised text arrived ahead of a procedural Senate vote scheduled for Sept. 15. The measure requires 60 votes to advance, meaning Republicans will need support from Democrats despite continuing disagreements over ethics, anti-money laundering protections and stablecoin rewards.

Crypto industry backs bill as ethics dispute lingers

In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim called Tuesday's vote a "pivotal moment" for digital assets, innovation and American leadership. Kim told Cointelegraph that the US needs a framework combining consumer protections with business conduct standards.

On Thursday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC that the CLARITY Act was "ready to get a yes vote." He said the "must-have issues" previously raised by Coinbase had been resolved, while negotiations over ethics restrictions remained active and appeared close to a solution. Armstrong did not specify which provisions had changed.

Despite this, the ethics section in the newly released text remained largely unchanged from the previous version, despite being one of the main points of contention in negotiations.

On Aug. 20, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego warned against holding a vote before lawmakers resolved disputes involving ethics and stablecoin yield. "A fast vote gets you a fast result, but I'm not sure it's the result you want," Gallego said at the time.

Armstrong said that if the legislation does not advance, the SEC and CFTC could instead pursue rulemaking and innovation exemptions using their existing authority.