Solana Institute-Backed Founders Rally Behind CLARITY Act Developer Protections
The Solana Institute has rallied over 60 crypto founders behind the CLARITY Act, urging lawmakers to preserve developer protections as the bill moves toward a Senate vote. The US Senate floor vote could come as early as this summer.
The CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May 2026 and was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar shortly after. Industry leaders are moving quickly to shape the final text of the bill, with the outcome for open-source developers depending on what lawmakers decide before it reaches the floor.
Kristin Smith, CEO of the Solana Institute, posted on X to argue that the current window is critical. She described the bill as having a real chance of passing the Senate and said treating validators, non-custodial wallet providers, and open-source coders as financial intermediaries would misclassify their actual role.
The core argument in the open letter is technical: developers who publish open-source blockchain software do not hold user funds, initiate transactions, or make decisions on behalf of users. Smith pointed to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) as the right legislative model, which would bar regulators from classifying noncontrolling software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers as money transmitters based on publishing code alone.