The Web3 community had plenty to say about the CLARITY Act passing this week.
“Bitcoin ran out of steam very quickly after yesterday’s little pump on the CLARITY Act news. The $82,000 resistance level proved insurmountable, despite institutional buying via ETFs.
“The regulatory news was mostly priced in, but the geopolitical and macro headwinds aren’t – mostly because the situation remains so uncertain. Markets are still hoping Hormuz will reopen in time for the summer season, but Bitcoin is stuck in a holding pattern until that happens.
“The $82,000 level is an important one to clear if we’re to see a rally toward $90,000, but positive regulatory news alone won’t get Bitcoin there. It all rests on the US-Iran negotiations, which could once again cause volatility over the weekend.”
– Nic Puckrin, co-founder of Coin Bureau
“Legislative windows close quickly. If CLARITY loses momentum before the midterms, the path becomes much harder: committee dynamics, House control, and the political bargain around crypto market structure could all change. That does not mean the bill is dead forever, but it does mean the U.S. risks extending regulatory uncertainty at exactly the moment institutions are asking for clearer rules.”
“Banks are worried about deposit migration and the impact on lending, particularly for community banks. Those are legitimate questions. But the White House CEA analysis suggests the lending benefit of a broad stablecoin yield prohibition is much smaller than some of the rhetoric implies, while the cost to consumers and market competitiveness could be meaningful. The issue should not be framed as banks versus crypto. It should be framed as how digital dollars can coexist with deposits, money market funds and other cash-like instruments inside a transparent, regulated system.”
– Cryptio CEO Antoine Scalia
“The big shift CLARITY signals is that the stablecoin rail is increasingly being regulated like a banking rail. That matters because the card rail is expensive — interchange runs 2-3% plus fixed fees — and stablecoins now have a real opening to take share in small-value digital product payments, where those economics never made sense in the first place.
“But there’s an elephant in the room: custodian-side KYC, AML, and sanctions monitoring still need a lot of help to operate at the scale and speed this rail implies. That’s actually where we’re focused at t54 — using AI agents to do compliance work that human-led ops teams can’t keep up with.”
– Chandler Fang, founder of t54
“The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is expected to accelerate the adoption of crypto payments by providing businesses with a clearer and more predictable regulatory framework for digital assets. By reducing uncertainty around token classification and compliance obligations, the legislation lowers a significant barrier to corporate adoption and enables payment providers to build with greater confidence.
“DoorDash’s recent decision to integrate stablecoin payments illustrates how these assets are rapidly evolving from niche crypto instruments into core financial infrastructure. By replacing fragmented regional payment systems with blockchain-based settlement, platforms can reduce transaction friction, improve liquidity for merchants and contractors, and enable faster, more efficient cross-border value transfer.”
– Joshua Kim, CEO and founder of DonaFi
“I think the biggest impact of the CLARITY Act is that it gives businesses a clearer rulebook. For years, plenty of merchants wanted to accept crypto, but legal uncertainty made it feel like more trouble than it was worth. If you don’t know whether a token is treated like a security or a commodity, your compliance team is going to say no.
“The CLARITY Act helps sort that out. It creates more predictable definitions and oversight, which makes it easier for payment companies to build products with some confidence. So, basically, businesses can start accepting stablecoins and other digital assets without worrying that the rules might suddenly change. For merchants, that’s huge as it lowers risk, cuts hesitation, and makes crypto payments feel like a practical option instead of a regulatory gamble.”
– Ivan Patriki, co-founder of QuantMap
“VCs do not necessarily take the opposite side of that argument, but instead tend to support the CLARITY Act for investor-related reasons. Greater regulatory clarity reduces certain regulatory risk. VCs can, as a result, have more confidence in digital asset business models and their ability to scale and ultimately achieve exit opportunities. This is a net positive for VCs and the industry as it will allow capital to be deployed into the sector more efficiently.”
– Emily Goodman, partner at FS Vector
“The bipartisan advancement of the CLARITY Act out of Committee puts the United States back in the global race for digital assets leadership.
“This bill would bring a $3 trillion global digital asset market under U.S. rules instead of allowing it to continue to migrate offshore. It would establish a comprehensive federal framework that enables financial institutions and other digital asset market participants to engage in digital asset activities responsibly – outcomes every American should want.
“As CCI has previously highlighted, approximately 88% of centralized exchange volume happens offshore. Only 19% of crypto developers remain in the United States, a 51% drop over the past decade. Trading that occurs offshore tests the reach of U.S. anti-money laundering, sanctions, and counter-terrorism financing tools.
“Greater onshore activity, under U.S. rules, means greater ability to identify bad actors and protect consumers. The Clarity Act addresses this directly by, among other things, codifying AML requirements, expanding examiner authority, clarifying sanctions obligations, regulating crypto kiosks, and more.
“Clear, durable rules will help drive greater institutional and retail adoption, support innovation, create more high-quality jobs in the U.S., protect Americans, and ensure that our country leads when it comes to digital assets policy and innovation.
“The momentum and progress are both strong. The House previously passed its version 294 to 134, with 78 Democrats voting in favor. The Senate Agriculture Committee passed its portion of market structure legislation in January. Now the Senate Banking Committee has done the same with votes in support from both Republicans and Democrats.
– Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim