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Scott Bessent Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

Scott Bessent Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

According to recent reports, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call for rapid passage of the CLARITY Act, adding industry support to the administration’s push for U.S. digital asset rules.

Fact Check
The claim is strongly supported by the primary source, 'Digital Asset Rules Need Clarity - WSJ.' In that op-ed, Scott Bessent explicitly urges Congress to pass the Clarity Act and writes that 'the global market capitalization of digital assets fluctuated between $2 trillion and $3 trillion' and that 'Blockchain infrastructure has assumed a growing role in payments, settlements and the exchange of real-world assets.' This directly matches the substance of the statement. The PANews and BlockBeats articles independently paraphrase the same points from the WSJ piece, reinforcing that this was how the op-ed was understood. The only minor caveat is wording precision: the WSJ article describes market capitalization fluctuating in that range over the past year, rather than Bessent offering a novel personal valuation estimate.
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Summary

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has continued urging Congress to advance the CLARITY Act, arguing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on July 8 and before the Senate Banking Committee on July 9 that digital asset rules are urgently needed to keep dollar-based innovation in the United States. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly backed Bessent’s position, adding a prominent industry voice to the broader push for the bill. Earlier reporting tied that effort to support from the White House, Treasury, SEC, and CFTC, after the House passed the CLARITY Act by a 294-134 bipartisan vote in July 2025. The measure remains stalled in the Senate amid debate over stablecoin yields, while administration officials have argued that clear market-structure rules are needed to reduce regulatory uncertainty and prevent crypto development from moving offshore.

Terms & Concepts
  • CLARITY Act: A proposed U.S. digital asset market structure bill intended to clarify regulatory oversight and define how crypto assets and trading platforms are regulated.
  • digital asset: A broad term for blockchain-based assets such as cryptocurrencies, tokens, and similar instruments recorded and transferred digitally.
  • stablecoin: A cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, typically by being pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar.