Treasury Secretary Bessent Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act for Crypto Regulation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to pass legislation to reduce regulatory uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 8 that Bessent, in an opinion piece, wrote that digital assets have already become a core part of the global financial system, but a clear regulatory framework is still lacking.

He wrote that the crypto market is worth between $2 trillion and $3 trillion and that one in six Americans holds digital assets. Major financial institutions are launching related products or seeking approval to do so, while blockchain technology is spreading rapidly as infrastructure for payments and asset transactions.

Bessent cited the Genius Act, introduced last year, as a positive development because it created a regulatory framework for dollar-based stablecoins. Still, he wrote, rules for the broader digital-asset market remain ambiguous.

He wrote that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission previously applied different standards, leaving market participants without clear guidance and creating confusion. That uncertainty, he added, drove some companies and developers to move overseas to jurisdictions with clearer rules, including Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Bessent emphasized the need to pass the Clarity Act. The bill would clarify the standards for determining whether a digital asset is a security and establish a registration framework for trading platforms and intermediaries.

He wrote that the measure would also help overhaul the broader market structure by including disclosure and custody rules for investor protection, anti-money laundering measures, and authority to respond to illicit finance.

"Economic security is directly tied to national security," Bessent wrote. Bringing digital-asset activity into a clear regulatory framework would strengthen oversight and transparency.

He added that the U.S. must establish regulatory standards in advance to keep pace with technological change if it is to maintain its status as a financial center. Congress should define the market structure for digital assets through legislation, he wrote.