Lawmakers tout CLARITY Act as key to crypto innovation and regulatory certainty

The US House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on Friday to examine the future of digital asset regulation. Lawmakers and industry executives argued that the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act could strengthen the United States' position as a global leader in crypto innovation.

Lawmakers push for clearer crypto market rules

The hearing, titled Building the Future of Finance: How the CLARITY Act Unlocks Innovation, was conducted by the Subcommittee in New York.

It focused on the need for a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and the role the legislation could play in defining oversight responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Witnesses included Sarah Aberg, Chief Legal Officer at Nova Labs, Randi Abernethy, Head of Clearing and Group Risk at Bullish, Ryan Louvar, Chief Legal Officer at WisdomTree and Jason Somensatto, Director of Policy at Coin Center.

Lawmakers agreed that the CLARITY Act would establish clearer rules for digital asset businesses while reducing regulatory uncertainty across the industry. They also argued that the legislation would encourage innovation by giving companies a predictable legal framework under which to operate.

Several speakers highlighted tokenization and round-the-clock market access as key advantages of blockchain-based financial products. They added that tokenized assets and stablecoins could expand investors' access to liquidity by enabling 24/7 trading, unlike traditional financial markets, which operate during limited hours.

Randi Abernethy, Head of Clearing and Group Risk at Bullish, said the legislation would help improve liquidity by encouraging capital to flow into the US market from offshore jurisdictions.

Rep. Bryan Steil, who chaired the hearing, described the legislation as a critical opportunity for the United States to reinforce its leadership in global capital markets.

"This is our opportunity to seize the moment [...] this is our opportunity to finish the job and have CLARITY, which passed the House under the leadership of Chairman Hill a while ago, get all the way across the line," Steil said.

He also pointed to the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025 as a milestone in Congress' broader effort to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets.

Senator Cynthia Lummis voiced further support for the legislation, highlighting its potential impact on financial crime enforcement.

"The CLARITY Act writes real-time interdiction between exchanges and investigators into law, allows illicit funds to be frozen in hours instead of waiting years, and preserves every money-laundering charge investigators already rely on," Lummis wrote in an X post.

The CLARITY Act passed the US House of Reps in July 2025 with bipartisan support. The bill seeks to establish a market structure for digital assets by clearly defining the regulatory responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC while providing legal certainty for market participants.

The legislation aims to encourage innovation, strengthen investor protections and help keep digital asset development within the United States rather than pushing companies to overseas jurisdictions.