The Solana Institute has called on U.S. senators to ensure that essential parts of the CLARITY Act stay intact, as the crypto industry sets its sights on an August goal for the bill’s advancement through Congress.
Kristin Smith, President of the Solana Institute, emphasized that the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, or BRCA, components within the CLARITY Act must remain untouched as lawmakers get ready to deliberate the legislation in the Senate. In a social media post, Smith highlighted that the bill could be presented on the Senate floor soon, and safeguards for non-custodial blockchain participants are vital to its success.
Smith argued that the BRCA would clarify that blockchain developers, node operators, and validators who do not manage customer funds should not be categorized as money transmitters under U.S. law. She stressed that this distinction between software and infrastructure providers and companies directly controlling user assets is crucial. She noted that the language aligns with guidance from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network from last year, offering legal clarity for open-source developers and network operators.
Smith also pointed out that leading founders, executives, and investors from across the crypto industry have collectively asked Senate leaders to preserve these protections. Meanwhile, debates on key clauses persist in Washington. According to Smith, BRCA provisions were discussed at a White House meeting with law enforcement, where potential changes were reviewed, and negotiations over ethics-related language remain ongoing.
These discussions coincide with a planned meeting in Chicago involving lawmakers, regulators, investors, and industry figures to address digital asset regulation and market structure legislation. Representative Dusty Johnson, who helped push an earlier version of the bill through the House Agriculture Committee with a bipartisan vote of 47-6 last year, is expected to participate. Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett expressed interest in hearing how House Agriculture Committee members view the Senate’s version of the CLARITY Act.
As chairman of the subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development, Johnson is likely to provide insights into how House lawmakers might react to Senate revisions. Recent reports indicate that congressional timing is becoming a bigger hurdle than policy disagreements. According to Crypto In America, the Senate must merge separate versions approved by the Banking and Agriculture Committees, secure 60 votes to start debate, handle additional cloture votes on amendments, and pass the final bill before it can return to the House.
Terrett noted that even if policy issues are resolved immediately, the legislative schedule makes a July 4 signing unlikely. The CLARITY Act would define jurisdictional boundaries for digital assets, placing decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s oversight, while securities remain under securities regulators. The bill also covers stablecoins, anti-money laundering rules, decentralized finance activities, and blockchain validators.
Smith highlighted competitiveness concerns, noting that the U.S. share of open-source crypto developers has dropped from 38% in 2015 to about 19% today. She argued that maintaining regulatory certainty could determine where future blockchain development occurs, warning that jurisdictions like Singapore and Abu Dhabi are vying to attract the next generation of builders.