Former US Defense Secretary Calls CLARITY Act a National Security Bill, Urges Swift Senate Passage

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged Congress to swiftly pass the CLARITY Act, arguing that the digital-asset regulatory bill is also a matter of national security.

Cointelegraph reported on August 9 that Esper made the case in a Financial Times opinion piece published the same day. “The CLARITY Act is not simply a financial services bill, but also a national security bill,” he wrote, adding that lawmakers should recognize it as such and move quickly to pass it.

Esper warned that weak digital-asset regulation gives North Korea and China room to challenge US financial dominance. Esper, who also serves on Coinbase's Global Advisory Council, wrote that China is already investing in state-backed payment systems to bypass US oversight and weaken the dollar's reserve-currency status. He called China the greatest strategic threat of our time.

He also argued that the CLARITY Act would help block channels used by North Korean-linked actors such as the Lazarus Group to exploit digital assets while evading US financial controls. The bill would extend the Treasury Department's special-measures authority under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act to the digital-asset sector, he wrote, calling it one of the strongest tools available to counter rogue actors.

The US Senate is set to vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed a cloture motion on August 9 to bring the bill to the floor.