CLARITY Act New Draft: Three Lawyers Break Down What Changed

Summary

Three lawyers analyze the new CLARITY Act draft, focusing on the specific intent standard for developer liability, secondary market treatment, and political obstacles. They assess passage probabilities, with views ranging from 35% to 90%. The discussion also covers traditional finance enthusiasm for digital assets and the competitive pressure on smaller banks.

• New CLARITY Act draft includes a specific intent standard for charging developers under money laundering statutes.
• The bill still faces opposition from bank lobby and Democrats over ethics concerns.
• Josh Riezman notes large TradFi institutions are bullish on digital assets and blockchain rails.
• Vy Le is highly optimistic about passage, citing real improvements in the draft.
• Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos and Josh Riezman assign lower probabilities of 35% and 45%.
• The bill aims to clarify the security/commodity line in secondary markets and bring trading volume onshore.
• Smaller banks may struggle with increased competition from crypto entities post-clarity.