On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, a bill that would provide the crypto industry with a regulatory framework and the long-awaited clarity it needs regarding the classification of digital assets.
Bessent Presses Lawmakers To Pass The CLARITY Act
In remarks at the White House, Bessent emphasized that the goal of the CLARITY Act should be to bring digital assets into the US rather than letting activity remain largely offshore. He said:
The most important thing we can do is to make digital assets come into the United States. Make the US the home. I would encourage the House and the Senate to get Clarity done.
Bessent’s comments also targeted what he called the “wild, wild west” environment for digital assets outside the US. He argued that much of the confusion and controversy surrounding crypto stems from a lack of clear rules when the activity is happening offshore.
“When you look at digital assets, all the nonsense that happens, all the things you read about, that’s because it’s the wild, wild west offshore. So we got to bring it onshore,” he said, before urging lawmakers again to “get CLARITY Act done.”
CBDCs Off The Table
The push comes after the CLARITY Act moved forward in the Senate earlier this month. The Senate Banking Committee approved its portion of the legislation, building on progress from January, when the Agriculture Committee successfully voted on its version.
With those committee steps completed, the CLARITY Act must clear a full Senate vote, complete the legislative reconciliation steps required to finalize the bill, and secure a final agreement between the House and the Senate before the measure can move to the President’s desk.
Bessent also addressed the administration’s broader crypto policy direction, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He said the US would not adopt a Central Bank Digital Currency, stating, “There will be no Central Bank Digital Currency. That would be the first step toward tracking. We took that off the table.”
Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com
