Wall Street’s leading regulator has indicated that he anticipates the long-awaited Clarity Act will be enacted this month, positioning the U.S. to become the “crypto capital of the world.” During remarks on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Chairman Paul Atkins affirmed that the regulator is advancing regulations aimed at supporting the cryptocurrency sector. Pro-crypto lawmakers aimed to advance the Clarity Act prior to Congress’s August recess; however, the vote has been postponed until September. The bill will create a framework for differentiating between digital assets classified as securities, commodities, or stablecoins.
“The Clarity Act will be voted on in the Senate on the 15th of September,” Atkins said. “I anticipate and hope that it will be passed by the Senate and sent ultimately to the President’s desk for a signature.” He added: “We’re changing the past approaches to try to update [rules], modernize them in the age of blockchain and crypto assets.” Despite the postponement of a vote on the Clarity Act, regulatory bodies such as the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have indicated their intention to continue efforts in shaping cryptocurrency policy.
Last week, the SEC submitted a proposal to the White House with the objective of “clarifying the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisers and companies. Despite its passage in the House of Representatives last year, the Clarity Act has remained in a state of deadlock for the majority of this year. This impasse has arisen following a confrontation between the banking lobby and lawmakers, alongside crypto businesses, regarding the permissibility of platforms such as Coinbase offering yield payments to customers.
Some lawmakers have attempted to modify the language in the legislation pertaining to ethics, and a new bill began to circulate in July. The draft prohibits government officials from endorsing and profiting from cryptocurrency. However, other Democratic lawmakers indicated that it still did not meet expectations; several pro-crypto Republicans alleged that Democrats were intentionally engaging in political manoeuvring and postponing the bill.
