Senate Republicans have released the full proposed text for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a wide-ranging bill intended to establish a clearer US regulatory framework for digital assets. The 616-page document, published Wednesday, includes a particularly forceful ethics section that would bar US federal officials from issuing, sponsoring, or otherwise promoting digital assets. According to the bill’s text—posted by Senator Cynthia Lummis—public officials, their spouses, and federal employees would be prohibited from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. In parallel, the legislation would prevent crypto platforms from listing assets that are issued or sponsored by covered federal officials. Lummis described the ethics package as “the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history,” language that the White House also highlighted around the proposal. Key takeaways The CLARITY Act’s ethics rules would restrict covered federal officials (and their spouses...
U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has warned that crypto “vaults” and onchain lending products may fall within federal securities laws—especially when the design involves discretionary decisions about how user assets are managed. In a statement released Wednesday, Peirce focused on strategies where operators actively determine key parameters such as asset allocation, the choice of yield activities, lending terms, and even liquidation thresholds. The remarks arrive as onchain yield products continue to proliferate and are increasingly packaged for retail and institutional users. Peirce emphasized that shifting activity onto a blockchain does not automatically remove it from securities-law scrutiny, urging developers and operators to assess compliance early rather than after launch. Key takeaways Peirce said crypto vaults and lending strategies that use discretionary management decisions may be subject to U.S. securities laws. Some vault structures could potentially be treated as s...