Anti-Trafficking Group Slams Digital Asset Market Bill Over Safe Harbor Provision
An anti-human trafficking group is urging U.S. senators to reject a long-stalled digital asset market bill, citing concerns that it creates a safe harbor for developers and providers of digital asset technology or blockchains.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 aims to clear up regulatory uncertainties in the digital asset sphere and provide stronger consumer protections. It would define cryptocurrencies and require cryptocurrency brokers and dealers to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, following similar Bank Secrecy Act rules as normal banks do.
The bill also clearly defines the roles of the CFTC and the Security and Exchange Commission in the digital asset market, but a provision has raised alarm bells among anti-trafficking groups. Section 604 creates a safe harbor for developers and providers of digital asset technology or blockchains, as long as they do not directly control users' funds.
Katie Gosewisch, executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, argues that lawmakers can protect legitimate innovation without creating new blind spots for bad actors. She claims that traffickers exploit parts of the financial system where scrutiny is weakest and that ambiguity in the bill's language would make it harder to follow the money in trafficking cases.