Who Is Most Affected by the New CLARITY Act?

In the new version of the CLARITY Act released by the U.S. Senate, the most noteworthy focus is not actually BTC, but DeFi. The new text specifically adds a regulatory framework for “non-decentralized trading protocols.” The core logic is that if a protocol claims to be decentralized but someone still controls upgrade permissions, governance rights, or operational control behind the scenes, it cannot simply receive the regulatory treatment afforded to fully decentralized protocols.
This change could trigger an industry shake-up. Projects that genuinely use immutable smart contracts and non-custodial architectures should, in theory, find it easier to prove their decentralized nature; meanwhile, protocols that rely on teams, foundations, front-end operators, or centralized governance may face higher compliance costs.
For investors, this instead offers a new way to select tokens: in the future, it will not be enough to look only at TVL, user numbers, and yields. They will also need to examine who actually controls the project, whether the code can be modified, whether governance is centralized, and whether its regulatory status is clear.
The Senate’s procedural vote on September 15 will become the biggest catalyst in the near term. If the bill advances smoothly, the market may reprice compliant and decentralized assets; if progress fails, it may once again fall into regulatory uncertainty.
Therefore, the new CLARITY Act is not simply “regulatory bearish.” For projects that are genuinely compliant and genuinely decentralized, clear rules may instead become a long-term moat.#美参议院发布新版CLARITY法案