The Blockchain Association sent an open letter to US Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer, urging the swift passage of the CLARITY Act.
Among the 160 signatories are former law enforcement officials, as well as national security and intelligence personnel.
The authors emphasized that the lack of clear federal regulations is pushing the crypto industry to offshore jurisdictions. This removes transactions from the oversight of US regulators and complicates the work of investigators.
The CLARITY Act includes:
- extending the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions compliance to brokers, dealers, and digital asset exchanges;
- launching a Treasury pilot program for data sharing between the Department of Justice, FBI, DEA, and the private sector;
- establishing a permanent interagency group to combat virtual asset crimes;
- setting strict standards for crypto ATMs, including reporting, transaction limits, and monitoring.
Some provisions will also affect not fully decentralized trading protocols: they will be subject to AML obligations, suspicious activity reports, and comprehensive independent audits. Sanctions requirements for DLT messaging systems are also specified.
Blockchain Association head Summer Mersinger stressed that the initiative is not a deregulation measure. On the contrary, it expands tools to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
As part of the campaign to promote the CLARITY Act, association representatives will hold a series of meetings in 18 senators’ offices. A public discussion is scheduled for June 4, featuring Senator Cynthia Lummis, Congressman Tom Emmer, and White House representative Patrick Witt.
On May 14, the US Senate Banking Committee approved a cryptocurrency bill by a vote of 15 to 9.