Coinbase policy chief says CLARITY Act could cement crypto rules into law

The CLARITY Act remains a central U.S. crypto policy battle as supporters including Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Rep. French Hill, Rep. Bryan Steil, Rep. William Timmons, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad, former House Financial Services Committee chairman Patrick McHenry and former CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger argue it would create a durable federal market-structure framework for digital assets. Lummis said the bill would provide regulatory clarity and stability to the cryptocurrency market, while giving developers regulatory certainty and investors protection. Steil said on Fox News that the bill is likely to pass the Senate next week, and Timmons said at a House hearing that the legislation is on the "1 yard line" and is crucial to keeping the U.S. economy at the center of the global economy. Hill has said the recently enacted GENIUS Act, which authorizes dollar-backed payment stablecoins, cannot achieve its intended effect on its own because the United States still lacks broader rules for digital-asset markets, exchanges, disclosures and oversight. Supporters say the CLARITY Act would clarify SEC-CFTC oversight, strengthen consumer and investor protections, and impose rules on segregation of customer assets, disclosures, custody, fraud prevention and anti-money laundering to reduce the risk of another FTX-style failure. But the bill still needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, and negotiations over ethics language, CFTC-related provisions and unpublished revised text have kept passage before the August recess uncertain.