Nine months ago, Congress passed the GENIUS Act, establishing the first federal regulatory framework for payments stablecoins. The results were eye-opening: the stablecoin market grew 49% in 2025, reaching $306 billion by the end of the year. Circle, Ripple and other digital asset companies have received interim national banking charters from the OCC. Institutional capital that had been on the sidelines moved into these markets. The recruiters, who, a year earlier, described an industry in which “all the protocol foundations relied on the Cayman Islands”. [tradingview.com]”, now report that 90% of senior crypto searches are based in the United States. Clear rules have produced exactly what their advocates said: investment, institutional engagement, and relocation of activities that had migrated elsewhere.
This result clarifies the task facing the Senate Banking Committee: applying a clear framework to the broader digital asset market. The crypto market is currently worth $3.2 trillion. Nearly 70 million Americans, or one in five, own crypto. This is a large and growing market.
The GENIUS Act concerned stable payment coins. The CLARITY Act sets the rules for everything else: registration and oversight of trading platforms and intermediaries, jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and CFTC, disclosure and compliance throughout the token lifecycle, and protection of non-custodial technologies under U.S. law.
These are the fundamental rules that determine whether the next generation of financial infrastructure will be built here in America – or elsewhere. Over the past 10 years, the number of developers in the United States has fallen by 51%. Nearly 90% of global CEX volume is offshore. America needs ground rules, because without them, the same dynamics that preceded GENIUS would apply to the rest of the market. Commercial activity, protocol development, and institutional engagement in digital asset markets will continue to flow toward jurisdictions that have already provided the regulatory clarity that Congress has yet to provide. Other jurisdictions, including the EU, Singapore and the UAE, have already adopted market structure regimes and are providing the regulatory clarity that remains to be provided.
The Senate Banking Committee, alongside offices on both sides of the aisle, has spent the better part of two years preparing for this moment. Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks deserve credit for resolving the issue of stable coin yield in a bipartisan manner, the most contested provision during months of negotiations. The compromise significantly expands the scope of the GENIUS ban framework to all digital asset market participants. The digital assets sector has made significant concessions. The resulting approach is restrictive in several respects: Ultimately, the broadest and most critical goal remains to advance comprehensive legislation on market structure, and this agreement advances that process.
Nothing is perfect about this process, and legislating is complex, but it is an outcome achieved through the type of sustained bipartisan engagement that serious legislation requires. Chairman Scott has managed a difficult process despite deep disagreements between the banking industry and the digital assets industry, and the Committee is closer to a sustainable outcome than it has been at any point in this process.
The window for action is narrow. The legislative calendar leaves little time to advance a bill of this size through committee, the plenary session and final passage. A near-term raise is necessary to keep this effort on track and ensure there is a viable path to the President’s desk before the end of the year.
The CLARITY Act passed the House with 294 votes. This breadth of bipartisan support reflects a genuine judgment by Congress that clear rules for digital asset markets serve the public interest. The banking committee should plan for an increase as soon as possible. The case for moving forward has never been stronger.
The United States should finally establish a clear, sustainable framework adapted to the needs of this market – and this country. America has long dominated the world because it embraced innovation, markets, and the rule of law. Now it’s time to start again.
