U.S. Senate Banking Committee Clarifies 7 Major Misconceptions of the CLARITY Act: Does Not Deviate from Securities Law, Emphasizes Investor Protection and Regulatory Boundaries

Odaily reported that the U.S. Senate Banking Committee published an article interpreting and clarifying seven major misconceptions about the CLARITY Act, which mainly include:

1. It does not deviate from existing securities laws but is based on well-established securities law principles to clarify which digital assets are securities and which are commodities.

2. The essence of the bill is investor protection, aiming to prevent a recurrence of FTX-like risk events by establishing clear rules to combat fraud, manipulation, and abuse.

3. It addresses regulatory gaps by clearly delineating the regulatory authority between the SEC and CFTC, establishing a joint advisory committee to coordinate rules, while introducing targeted anti-evasion provisions to reduce arbitrage opportunities.

4. It requires key intermediaries to fulfill anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations, and strengthens sanctions compliance and enforcement authorization for the Treasury Department.

5. It does not allow DeFi to become a channel for illicit funds, emphasizing "precisely targeting illegal activities." It requires centralized intermediaries interacting with DeFi protocols to implement risk management standards, while establishing specific rules for intermediaries that are not truly decentralized, protecting code and innovation itself.

6. It explicitly protects software developers and users' self-custody rights, not treating developers who do not control user funds and only publish or maintain code as financial intermediaries, while retaining regulatory agencies' intervention capabilities for genuine risks.

7. The core objectives are to strengthen national security, protect investors, and promote compliant innovation under clear rules, rather than being "tailor-made" for specific industries.