Bipartisan CLARITY Act Introduced as SEC Issues New Staking Guidance
Crypto policy has been top of mind in Washington this week
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: The House unveiled its long-awaited market structure bill to largely positive reviews, while the SEC issued new guidance on its stance toward certain types of crypto staking. Plus, a conversation with West Virginia Senator Jim Justice and a recap of this week’s biggest headlines.
Lawmakers and regulators in Washington were hard at work on crypto policy this week.
As Crypto in America first reported Wednesday, the House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees introduced market structure legislation during a Thursday afternoon pro forma session.
The bipartisan bill, dubbed the CLARITY Act, could mark a fundamental shift in how digital assets are regulated in the U.S.
The legislative drop came just hours before the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance released new guidance clarifying that certain proof-of-stake activities — including self-staking, staking-as-a-service, and enhanced offerings like slashing protection and custom rewards — are not considered securities transactions.
The move is being described as a major win for digital asset regulatory clarity in the U.S., especially given that the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler had indicated certain types of crypto staking — where users lock up their tokens to help secure a blockchain network in exchange for rewards — could be considered securities transactions.
Rebecca Rettig, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Jito Labs, called the guidance a welcome development.
“This bodes very well for other types of non-custodial staking activity, including liquid staking,” she said in a post on X.
Liquid staking wasn’t specifically addressed in the guidance, but Rettig believes the regulator could issue further clarification in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act, in its current form, would shift oversight of most digital assets from the SEC to its ‘little sister’ agency, the CFTC. The bill creates a new asset category — “digital commodities” — covering any token tied to a blockchain and used to transfer value. This category is expected to include many of today’s top tokens in addition to Bitcoin: ETH, SOL, ADA, XRP, DOGE, as well as governance tokens like WLFI, the token of Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.
There’s also a new, optional “mature blockchain system” designation which projects could qualify for if they meet certain criteria including open-source code, no single controlling party, and no one holding more than 20% of the token supply.
So far, the bill has drawn a generally positive response from the industry.
“The CLARITY Act shows a meaningful effort to strike the right balance between laying out appropriate guardrails for the industry while also supporting responsible entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Chris Dixon, managing partner at a16z crypto. “It signals strong momentum toward smart regulation.”
In addition to the five Republican co-sponsors on the bill, Democrats Angie Craig (MN), Ritchie Torres (NY), and Don Davis (NC) have also signed on as original co-sponsors.
The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the new bill text on June 4 and is eyeing a markup hearing on June 10.
In Conversation with Senator Jim Justice (R-WV)
Former West Virginia Governor-turned-Senator Jim Justice attended the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas this week, joining Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and his beloved Babydog on stage to voice their support for the world’s largest digital currency.
Senator Justice caught up with Crypto In America following his panel:
This is your first Bitcoin Conference, Senator. What first sparked your interest in Bitcoin, and why do you believe it has a place in the daily lives of West Virginians?
Sen. Lummis had approached me with the BITCOIN Act, and as a business guy first and foremost, I thought it was a fantastic idea. Not only is this bill a smart way to try and wrangle in our national debt, but it gives Toby and Edith, the average America, a backing of confidence in something that may at first come off as difficult to understand. I think when we get the Toby and Edith’s of the world to really understand what we’re trying to do with Bitcoin, legislation such as this will begin to move at light speed.
West Virginia has many rural and underserved areas — how do you see Bitcoin helping bridge financial gaps in these communities?
It absolutely evens the playing field. There’s no question in my mind that this will give folks an opportunity, but like I said there is a learning curve that will need to be overcome before people really can take advantage of it. We’ll get there.
You recently joined Senator Lummis as a co-sponsor on her BITCOIN Act which would create a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve. What motivated you to do this and why does it align with your vision for West Virginia's economic future?
It’s a bill that represents a pragmatic, realistic, and entrepreneurial approach to wrangling down our national debt and protecting our economy across the world. I’ve said for a long time you cannot simply cut your way out of a problem, you need to grow. The BITCOIN Act puts our current holding to use in a pro-growth way. Toby and Edith as the voters always get it right. They have the power as voters but they need the knowledge. When they have the knowledge, they can use that power to tell the politicians what they’d like to see regarding Bitcoin policy and how it’s utilized as a strategic asset within the federal government. There is serious buy-in from the President and Republicans which is encouraging to see, but we need to continue to pull the rope to make lasting progress.
Weekly Recap
ICYMI. Here are some of the biggest news stories this week from the intersection of Washington and Web3:
The SEC has filed to drop its lawsuit against global crypto exchange Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao, bringing an end to one of the last major cryptocurrency enforcement cases from the Biden administration.
Vice President J.D. Vance said Bitcoin is an important tool for financial sovereignty and assured attendees at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference that the Trump administration would continue to support digital assets.
UK Reform Party Leader Nigel Farage announced at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference that he will introduce the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill and start accepting cryptocurrency donations.
BlackRock, an investor in Circle’s $400M Series F, plans to buy a 10% stake in the stablecoin issuer’s IPO, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Circle officially kicked off its IPO process earlier this week, aiming to raise approximately $624 million with a valuation of $5.65 billion. The company plans to list under the ticker symbol ‘CRCL’ on the New York Stock Exchange.
Video game retailer GameStop announced it has purchased more than $500 million worth of Bitcoin.
Trump Media announced $2.5 billion deal to create a Bitcoin treasury.
Cantor Fitzgerald launches its $2 billion Bitcoin-backed lending division with deals involving FalconX and Maple Finance.
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