Republicans on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs published fact sheets and a myth-versus-fact briefing ahead of a procedural markup of the CLARITY Act, a bipartisan bill to create a federal market structure framework for digital assets. The materials describe a regime that would distinguish digital asset securities from digital asset commodities, preserve Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement over digital asset securities and primary offerings of ancillary assets, and add investor disclosures, financial literacy measures, resale restrictions and anti-fraud safeguards. The package also highlights anti-illicit-finance measures that would apply Bank Secrecy Act obligations to digital asset brokers, dealers and exchanges, including anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing programs, suspicious activity monitoring and reporting, customer identification and sanctions compliance. Other provisions described include registration and operating requirements for digital asset kiosks, a safe harbor for digital asset service providers and permitted payment stablecoin issuers to pause suspicious transactions at the request of law enforcement, a new Special Measure 6 authority for the Treasury Department to target foreign money laundering risks involving digital assets, risk-management standards for intermediaries, a joint Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission advisory committee, studies on mixers, tumblers, cybersecurity and national security risks, increased funding for FinCEN, and a pilot program to improve private sector information sharing with federal law enforcement. According to the briefing, the bill would also protect software developers who publish, maintain or contribute to code without controlling customer funds and preserve self-custody, while requiring centralized intermediaries that interact with decentralized finance protocols to meet sanctions and risk-management standards and allowing tailored rulemaking for intermediaries that are not truly decentralized.
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 2026-05-12
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Republicans outline CLARITY Act digital asset framework ahead of markup
Republicans on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee released fact sheets and a myth-versus-fact briefing on the bipartisan CLARITY Act, which would create a federal market structure for digital assets, distinguish digital asset securities from commodities, and preserve SEC enforcement over digital asset securities and primary offerings of ancillary assets. The materials describe expanded investor disclosures and safeguards, extension of Bank Secrecy Act obligations and new anti–illicit finance tools for digital asset intermediaries, kiosk registration, a safe harbor to pause suspicious transactions, enhanced FinCEN resourcing, and a joint SEC–CFTC advisory committee. The briefing also highlights protections for software developers, preservation of self-custody, and sanctions and risk-management requirements for centralized intermediaries interacting with decentralized finance protocols.