<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div><div><p>Author: Miles Jennings Source: a16z Translation: Shan Ouba, Jinse Finance</p><p>The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has just passed the Crypto Asset “Market Structure” Act in a bipartisan vote—a historic milestone propelling the crypto industry forward. Why is it so significant? Because the Clarity Act for Digital Asset Markets will finally establish clear regulatory rules for blockchain networks and digital assets.</p><p>For the past decade, the lack of clear regulation in the United States has distorted the market, stifled innovation, and exposed consumers to enormous risks. The Clarity Act will end this chaotic situation. Just as the Securities Act of 1933 laid the foundation for investor protection and propelled a century of development and innovation in the U.S. capital markets, the Clarity Act will reshape the U.S. financial regulatory landscape, bringing about a once-in-a-generation transformation and creating tremendous opportunities.</p><p>Following the Senate's passage of the &#34;Marketing Act&#34; today, this fundamental bill concerning the entire crypto industry—be it startup founders, ordinary users, traditional financial giants undergoing on-chain transformation, or investors—is closer than ever to formal legislation. The next step is to merge the two bills proposed by the respective committees of the House and Senate into a comprehensive bill, which will be submitted to the full Senate for a vote. If the Senate passes it, the bill will be sent to the House for consideration; if the House also passes it, it will ultimately be sent to the White House for the President's signature to become law. Why does the US urgently need the CLARITY Act right now? Despite the continuous expansion and increasing popularity of the crypto industry over the past decade, the US has consistently lacked a comprehensive and unified regulatory framework. Regulatory agencies have been forced to piece together existing regulations, resulting in utter failure: chaotic and inconsistent legal interpretations, excessive government intervention, and frequent abuses of power. Regulatory uncertainty not only hinders innovation but also becomes a breeding ground for criminals. Over the past decade, negative news in the crypto industry has highlighted how malicious actors easily exploit regulatory loopholes, launch fraudulent products, and infringe on consumer rights; while compliance builders have suffered unfair treatment under &#34;enforcement-style regulation.&#34; This uncertainty has forced crypto technology research and development to flow overseas. When the US no longer encourages innovation, entrepreneurs turn to regions with more reasonable regulations—the EU's Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA) and the UK's crypto regulatory rules are clear evidence of the US lagging behind. Fortunately, no country in the world has yet developed a perfect regulatory system, but a tailored regulatory framework will ultimately attract startups, gather industry value, and create jobs. Imagine: what would the US economy be like if Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Salesforce all originated overseas? Therefore, as long as the US provides clear regulations for builders, domestic innovation will experience explosive growth. The passage of the Stablecoin Innovation Act (GENIUS) in the United States in July 2025 is a prime example. This act established a regulatory framework for stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies (mostly the US dollar), giving rise to a new paradigm: open monetary infrastructure. After the act's enactment, stablecoins experienced unprecedented growth and adoption, benefiting both the US economy and consolidating the long-term dominance of the US dollar. When a legal framework can both encourage innovation and protect consumers, the US will lead the world, and the world will benefit. Entrepreneurs and users who firmly believe in the potential of crypto technology deserve a clear regulatory environment to realize their vision. They need a set of rules that recognize the value of blockchain: blockchain can not only drive significant technological change but also transcend speculative uses fueled by flawed policies, exploring more possibilities beyond existing financial applications (which are already covered by current US regulations). The CLARITY Act is precisely tailored to build this clear regulatory framework. The Path to the Birth of the CLARITY Act: The core content of the CLARITY Act is not entirely new. Its concepts and principles originate from existing commodity and securities laws, and are also derived from previous versions of legislation, including two &#34;market structure&#34; bills proposed by the House of Representatives: The 2024 Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21, HR 4763) and the 2025 Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (House version of the CLARITY Act, HR 3633). Consistent with the current Senate version, both the FIT21 Act and the House version of the CLARITY Act aim to pave a compliant path for blockchain networks. The bill allows blockchain networks and digital assets to be launched safely and compliantly in the United States; clarifies the regulatory boundaries between the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), specifying whether digital assets are securities or commodities; regulates the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges; and strengthens U.S. consumer protection through trading rules. The FIT21 bill passed two years ago with overwhelming bipartisan support (279 votes in favor, 136 against, including 71 Democratic members); the House version, CLARITY, passed in July 2025 with even greater support (294 votes in favor, 134 against, including 78 Democratic members). Both bills clearly signal that the Senate needs to accelerate legislation on the structure of the cryptocurrency market. The Senate version of the CLARITY bill continues the bipartisan consensus in the House of Representatives and improves upon previous bills in key areas (detailed below). The bill has been progressing in the Senate for years, with significant progress in the past year: June 2022: Senators Loomis and Gillibrand first introduced the Responsible Finance Innovation Act, the first bipartisan comprehensive regulatory proposal for crypto; July 2025: The Senate Banking Committee (regulating the SEC) released a draft of the bill, integrating and harmonizing the regulatory approaches of the Loomis-Gillibrand Act and the House version of the CLARITY Act; it also released a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit legislative suggestions that balance innovation, financial stability, and consumer protection; September 2025: A second draft was released based on feedback; 2026 Month: Released the latest version after months of bipartisan negotiations; in the same month, the Senate Agriculture Committee released and passed a draft of the Market Structure Act under its jurisdiction; May 14, 2026: The Senate Banking Committee formally passed portions of the CLARITY Act under its jurisdiction during a review session. Why the CLARITY Act is Key: Internet vs. Enterprise For a century, the enterprise model has driven innovation in the United States: entrepreneurs raise funds to start businesses, and upon success, generate profits for shareholders. US law is highly adapted to this model—by setting responsibilities, strengthening transparency, and balancing the rights and responsibilities of founders and operators. This set of rules is suitable for enterprises, but not for the internet. The existing legal framework defaults to centralized managers, and control needs to be concentrated in the long term. However, blockchain networks have no single controlling party: they rely on shared rules rather than centralized ownership to coordinate users, capital, and resources. When rules designed specifically for businesses are forcibly applied to networks, the network is forced to distort into a corporate structure: power is concentrated, intermediaries rise, and value flows away from ecosystem participants. In the digital economy, this phenomenon has given rise to highly centralized giant platforms—payment systems, e-commerce platforms, social media, and app stores—which seize the vast majority of the value created by ecosystem participants: a user pays 100 yuan for a taxi, but the driver receives only a small share; a musician's work gets over a million plays, but their actual income is meager. In corporate-dominated networks, value flows to intermediaries. Traditional corporate law protects intermediaries and investors, but puts users, creators, and workers at risk. In the internet age, this trade-off was once unavoidable—open protocols lacked sustainable business models and were powerless to counter the capital and resource advantages of corporate networks. Blockchain has changed everything. Blockchain and its protocols have given rise to entirely new systems: blockchain networks. These networks are decentralized, transparent in their rules, and collectively owned and operated by users. Network value grows with public use, and profits are distributed to all participants (including peripheral users), rather than being monopolized by a single center. Blockchain allows networks to return to their network essence, rather than becoming mere enterprises. Currently, blockchain technology is at a critical turning point: personal computers, mobile internet, and the internet itself were all major technological innovations in human history; now, artificial intelligence is also among them. However, these technological changes ultimately lead to highly centralized power: a few giants control the fate of countless consumers, creators, and developers. In today's era of economic digitalization and the widespread adoption of AI, the issue of control over digital systems is becoming increasingly critical. If power remains concentrated, giants will dictate network rules, restrict user access, and monopolize value: corporations have the final say, and only a minority will benefit. Decentralized blockchain networks offer another possibility: infrastructure cannot be arbitrarily altered, censored, or manipulated by a single entity. It can restructure existing platforms and create digital public goods: reducing user lock-in, decentralizing power, maintaining neutrality, eliminating single points of failure, and returning ownership to users. The CLARITY Act provides legal guarantees for achieving this path. After the bill enters full Senate deliberation and details are updated, we will continue to analyze its practical impact on crypto builders. Once the legislative process is complete and it is formally passed, US law will finally align with the essence of blockchain networks: builders can operate transparently, secure domestic funding, and plan for the long term without sacrificing core architecture to address regulatory ambiguity. With more projects operating within the US compliance framework, regulators and law enforcement will be better positioned to combat industry fraud and irregularities. Feasible regulation fosters genuine innovation: the GENIUS Act unleashed a wave of stablecoin innovation overnight; crypto technology is now integrated into mainstream applications—from stablecoins to AI agents, and more transformations are on the horizon.</p></div></div></div>

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<p>The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has passed the bipartisan Crypto Asset 'Market Structure' Act, marking a significant advancement for the crypto industry. The Clarity Act aims to establish clear regulatory rules for digital assets, addressing the current chaotic regulatory environment that has hindered innovation and exposed consumers to risks. This legislation is expected to reshape the U.S. financial regulatory landscape, fostering growth and attracting startups, while also protecting consumers.</p>

- The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has passed the bipartisan Crypto Asset “Market Structure” Act, aiming to establish clear regulatory rules for blockchain and digital assets.  
- This act is anticipated to end regulatory chaos that stifles innovation and exposes consumers to risks, thus reshaping the financial landscape similar to the 1933 Securities Act.  
- The legislation's approval is pivotal for encouraging domestic innovation and providing a comprehensive legal framework, potentially attracting startups and enhancing consumer protection in the crypto sector.

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a16z: The Clarity Act's Advance Marks a Major Turning Point for the Crypto Industry