US Senate Faces Deadline to Pass CLARITY Act and Settle Crypto Regulation
The US Senate has just one week to pass the CLARITY Act, a comprehensive bill that could reshape the entire crypto market. If passed, this legislation would provide clarity on who regulates every token held in the country and give exchanges and platforms a clear set of rules to follow.
The current ambiguity surrounding crypto regulation has been a major hurdle for the industry. The SEC has treated most tokens as unregistered securities while the CFTC believes many are commodities but lacks the power to oversee spot trading. This has left projects unsure of where to apply, exchanges unclear on what they can list, and investors uncertain who protects them.
The CLARITY Act addresses this issue by establishing a clear split between the SEC and CFTC. Tokens that rely on a central team's efforts will be considered securities, while those with sufficient decentralization will be classified as digital commodities under the CFTC. This would give the CFTC new authority over spot markets for the first time.
The bill also introduces a 'maturity' test, which allows tokens to 'graduate' into digital commodities once they decentralize. Exchanges must register with the CFTC and meet strict standards on capital, risk controls, and market surveillance in return for a legal license to operate.