CLARITY Act Seeks to Clarify Regulatory Jurisdiction Over Digital Assets

The CLARITY Act is a proposed federal legislation aimed at establishing a market-structure framework for digital assets in the United States. Introduced as H.R. 3633, the bill attempts to clarify which federal regulator oversees which type of digital asset, transaction, and intermediary.

The current regulatory limbo has pushed U.S. crypto companies overseas, deterred banks from entering the market, and left users without consistent protections for their crypto holdings. The CLARITY Act seeks to replace this patchwork with statutory rules that both agencies and the industry can point to directly.

The bill amends two existing laws: the Commodity Exchange Act, administered by the CFTC, and the GENIUS Act, which governs payment stablecoins. It doesn't declare every cryptocurrency a commodity but instead applies a multi-step analysis to determine regulatory jurisdiction.