The U.S. Begins Drawing Clear Boundaries for Crypto

The biggest highlight of the new CLARITY Act is not just that it has grown to 630 pages, but that its regulatory approach is becoming increasingly specific. The new text released by Republican senators adds regulatory provisions targeting non-decentralized trading protocols: if a so-called DeFi protocol actually has clear centralized control, it may need to register with the CFTC and comply with relevant legal requirements in the future.

This means U.S. regulators are moving beyond the previous question of “whether it is a security” toward “who controls it, how it is traded, and who regulates it.” For the crypto industry, this is actually very important. The biggest risk has never been regulation itself, but ambiguous rules—projects do not know what they can do, and institutions do not dare enter the market with confidence.

The new CLARITY Act also incorporates many amendments proposed by Democrats, but issues including anti-money laundering, stablecoin yields, competition with bank deposits, and political ethics remain unresolved.

The procedural vote on September 15 is therefore particularly critical. If the bill continues to advance, the market may begin pricing in a “regulatory certainty premium” ahead of time, with compliant trading platforms, RWA, stablecoins, and DeFi infrastructure all potentially benefiting.

Of course, the vote is not the end. What will truly determine industry valuations is whether the final text can be implemented. The clearer the regulations, the more willing capital will be to enter; the more ambiguous the rules, the more the market will prefer to speculate on expectations.#美参议院发布新版CLARITY法案