Continued delays may sustain regulatory uncertainty and market volatility
The clip of an interview with the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, was broadcasted on CNBC recently, and it directly accused some of the crypto industry. He wrote that there were a number of crypto companies that actively prevented the development of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. As Bessent says, these companies will prefer to not have any bill, than this bill. His remarks underscore tension between regulators and the industry leaders in a critical regulation era.
The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act seeks to introduce a definite federal framework of the digital asset. Particularly, it attempts to determine the regulatory capacity of tokens as SEC and CFTC. It also tries to explain the exchange rules, DeFi rules and on chain operations. Hence, proponents believe the bill would ease regulatory uncertainty that has burdened markets over the years.
Interestingly, the comments of Bessent are similar to the words related to Brian Armstrong, who is the CEO of Coinbase. Armstrong made a public announcement stating that the industry would not hope to see no legislation rather than badly written legislation. To him, a bad bill might entrap bad rules over a long period of time. Consequently, delay has become a safer option to compromise in some firms.
The main issues of the opposition are the issues of strict compliance burdens. Certain clauses might make crypto platform subject to bank-like prudential standards. There might be restrictions of innovation by other people on DeFi or on-chain financial products. Companies are therefore afraid that the bill might choke growth as opposed to sustaining one. Such fear is the reason why the industry is still divided.
In the meantime, Bessent has called on lawmakers to approve the bill by the spring of 2026. He presents a case that long-term uncertainty is detrimental to the investors and the inventors. Furthermore, in his opinion, a clear legislation would assist in making the U.S. a global crypto-powerhouse instead of driving the innovation to the offshoring. In the eyes of the administration, delay just supports the enforcement-based regulation.
Notably, regulatory stasis still enjoys a toll on the market mood. Bitcoin and altcoins are still susceptible to news stories of U.S. policy. Although the CLARITY Act will solve the confidence problem, additional delays are likely to increase volatility. Finally, the standoff is indicative of a larger question: does crypto accept the imperfect rules today or bet on the perfect rules tomorrow?
