A secret 11th-hour CLARITY proposal to protect crypto coders was just ripped apart by both sides of Washington
Senate talks on the CLARITY Act are yielding side concessions but not clear progress toward a final deal. Democrats have addressed a personnel dispute by giving the White House possible nominees for Democratic seats at the SEC and CFTC, partly easing complaints that expanded digital-asset regulators lack minority-party representation. But the White House says this is minimal political cover, not a breakthrough. The sharper fight is over a CLARITY provision on software developers and illicit finance. Prosecutor groups proposed revised language, but both the White House and crypto advocates rejected it, each arguing the other side is trying to impose financial-intermediary duties on coders. That leaves unresolved how to preserve law-enforcement tools without overregulating software developers. A separate ethics issue may be the next major test. Sens. Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis are preparing a bipartisan counteroffer on ethics, consumer protection, conflicts of interest, and market integrity after Democrats rejected the latest GOP draft.
