Senator Lummis: No need to add DeFi provisions to the CLARITY Act

Gold Financial reports that on May 14th, U.S. Senator Van Hollen and Cynthia Lummis spoke during the review of the “CLARITY Act” regarding amendments related to increasing DeFi money laundering risks and accountability clauses.
Senator Van Hollen supported the amendment, stating, “We all know that bad actors will use tools like tumblers and mixers to launder money, evade law enforcement, and transfer funds.
There are records showing Iranian-related individuals using mixing services and related technologies to transfer funds and evade sanctions. In some cases, it’s clear that the developers of these DeFi tools intended to profit from illegal activities from the start.
They know that bad actors will use these tools — in fact, for some of them, that is the entire purpose of developing these tools.
Therefore, we must hold them accountable.
Addressing the overall illegal financial risks of DeFi is not simple, but this amendment is direct, limited, and straightforward.
It does one thing: explicitly states that if the purpose of releasing a DeFi protocol is to facilitate money laundering, evade sanctions, or fund terrorism, then it is illegal.
That’s all.
If you intentionally facilitate drug traffickers, scammers, North Korea, or Iran, you should face consequences.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis opposed the amendment, stating that under Title 18, Sections 1956 and 1957 of the U.S. Code and related sanctions laws, if someone builds or uses software to launder criminal proceeds or evade sanctions, prosecutors can already file charges under these laws, and there is no need to add a “DeFi additional clause” in the bill.
“I only care about one thing: how to handle specific behaviors, but we should not send a signal that ‘software is unwelcome.’
We want to embed digital assets into the existing U.S. legal framework, not start from scratch.
Therefore, I oppose this amendment.”
The amendment was rejected with 11 votes in favor and 13 votes against.
The “Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act” (i.e., the CLARITY Act) is currently debating and voting on each amendment.