H.R. 3633

Digital Asset Market Clarity Act

Sponsor: J. French Hill

21 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 or the CLARITY Act of 2025

This bill establishes a regulatory framework for digital commodities, defined by the bill as digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission must generally regulate digital commodities transactions, including digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. To qualify for trade on an exchange (1) a digital commodity’s blockchain must be mature, or on a blockchain system that has achieved decentralized control as defined by the bill; or (2) the issuer of the digital commodity must file certain reports. The bill establishes requirements for trade monitoring, recordkeeping, and the commingling of customer assets.  

The bill exempts digital commodities on mature blockchains (and digital commodities on blockchains expected to mature within certain timeframes) from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements if annual sales fall under a certain amount and other requirements are met. The bill provides the SEC with jurisdiction over digital commodity activities and transactions engaged in by certain brokers and dealers on alternative trading systems and by national securities exchanges. 

Digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act for anti-money laundering and related purposes.

The bill also sets forth requirements for alternative trading systems, previously issued digital commodities, and provisional registration until the bill is implemented.  

For more information on this bill, see CRS Insight IN12583, Crypto Legislation: An Overview of H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act.

Text of the bill

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I Definitions; Rulemaking; Expedited Registration

II Offers and Sales of Digital Commodities

III Registration for Intermediaries at the Securities and Exchange Commission

IV Registration for Digital Commodity Intermediaries at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

V Innovation and Technology Improvements

Sec. 501. Findings; sense of Congress Since introduced

(a) Findings. Congress finds the following:

(1) Entrepreneurs and innovators are building and deploying this next generation of the internet.

(2) Digital commodity networks represent a new way for people to join together and cooperate with one another to undertake certain activities.

(3) Digital commodities have the potential to be the foundational building blocks of these systems, aligning the economic incentive for individuals to cooperate with one another to achieve a common purpose.

(4) The digital commodity ecosystem has the potential to grow our economy and improve everyday lives of Americans by facilitating collaboration through the use of technology to manage activities, allocate resources, and facilitate decision making.

(5) Blockchain systems and the digital commodities they empower provide control, enhance transparency, reduce transaction costs, and increase efficiency if proper protections are put in place for investors, consumers, our financial system, and our national security.

(6) Blockchain technology facilitates new types of network participation which businesses in the United States may utilize in innovative ways.

(7) Other digital commodity companies are setting up their operations outside of the United States, where countries are establishing frameworks to embrace the potential of blockchain technology and digital commodities and provide safeguards for consumers.

(8) Digital commodities, despite the purported anonymity, provide law enforcement with an exceptional tracing tool to identify illicit activity and bring criminals to justice.

(9) The Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives has held multiple hearings highlighting various risks that digital commodities can pose to the financial markets, consumers, and investors that must be addressed as we seek to harness the benefits of these innovations.

(b) Sense of Congress. It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) the United States should seek to prioritize understanding the potential opportunities of the next generation of the internet;

(2) the United States should seek to foster advances in technology that have robust evidence indicating they can improve our financial system and create more fair and equitable access to financial services for everyday Americans while protecting our financial system, investors, and consumers;

(3) the United States must support the responsible development of digital commodities and the underlying technology in the United States or risk the shifting of the development of such assets and technology outside of the United States, to less regulated countries;

(4) Congress should consult with public and private sector stakeholders to understand how to enact a functional framework tailored to the specific risks and unique benefits of different digital commodity-related activities, distributed ledger technology, distributed networks, and mature blockchain systems;

(5) Congress should enact a functional framework tailored to the specific risks of different digital commodity-related activities and unique benefits of distributed ledger technology, distributed networks, and mature blockchain systems; and

(6) consumers and market participants will benefit from a framework for digital commodities consistent with longstanding investor protections in securities and commodities markets, yet tailored to the unique benefits and risks of the digital commodity ecosystem.

VI Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act

I Responsible securities innovation

II Protecting against illicit finance

III Responsible innovation in decentralized finance

IV Responsible banking innovation

V Responsible regulatory innovation

VI Protecting software developers and software innovation

VII Protecting customer property

VIII Customer protection

IX Other matters