As the U.S. Senate postponed its vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act to September, Chainlink Labs’ Head of Legal, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, joined Robbie Klages on The Rollup livestream to outline why the bill is crucial to America’s bottom line and what it will take for Congress to make crypto a priority.
The Clarity Act proposes a federal legislative framework for regulating cryptocurrencies and digital assets by splitting oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Establishing clear rules and taxonomy for digital assets is a long-awaited watershed moment for institutional capital to flow onchain.
Kirkpatrick Bos, who was previously General Counsel of StarkWare and sits on the board of Architect, said compromises over issues related to yield, protections, and ethical limitations are no longer holding Clarity back.
“The issue we’re facing is the Senate has a lot of priorities and those priorities are coming before that vote on Clarity. That is our next big hurdle.”
While the SEC and CFTC could accelerate their own rulemaking and guidance in the interim, she believes anything reversible is not enough.
“Nothing beats legislation. Once legislation is passed, it’s extraordinarily difficult to walk back. We want and need the legislation because everything that the SEC and the CFTC are doing now could theoretically be undone a lot easier than amending legislation.”
Even after the Senate votes on Clarity, it must be consolidated with the House version of the bill (H.R. 3633).
“It’s not like we get the Senate vote and the President signs and we’re all done. There’s more that needs to come after this point. So we need to get that kind of momentum started again and we need Congress as a whole to see this as a priority.”
She explained why Chainlink Labs, the primary contributing developer of Chainlink’s industry-leading, chain-agnostic oracle platform, is particularly rooting for Clarity.
“Our technology can be used by everyone. What we at Chainlink Labs want to see is a growth in the broader ecosystem. We absolutely anticipate bringing the institutional world onchain. That is a major mission of ours and that is going to be easier if we have legislation.”
Ultimately she believes education will get Clarity across the finish line.
“We have come so far in educating regulators about crypto, but we haven’t come quite as far with the legislators themselves, and if someone doesn’t understand something, it’s harder for them to prioritize.”
Because the “multi-year rulemaking and interpretive process” that will precede Clarity’s final implementation is a marathon, not a sprint, Kirkpatrick Bos said the U.S. needs to get started now.
“We’re behind many other countries and that gap is growing. So, let’s get this done, because obviously the money’s here. Everybody wants to play here. People want to build here and this is an unlock for that.”
Watch the full livestream.
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