Treasury Secretary Bessent Urges Senate to Pass CLARITY Act to Secure US Crypto Leadership

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has issued a public call for Congress to expedite the passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. In a recent op-ed, Bessent emphasized that the legislation is essential for defining the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, decentralized exchanges, and tokenized assets, warning that US leadership in financial innovation is at stake. The urgency stems from the scale of the digital asset market, which has grown to $3 trillion, with approximately one in six Americans now holding digital assets. While the House of Representatives passed the bill in July 2025, the Senate has stalled, primarily due to disagreements over the treatment of stablecoin yields. White House economists have recently countered claims from the banking sector that stablecoin yields threaten traditional lending. Analysis suggests that banning such yields would only increase total US bank lending by $2.1 billion—roughly 0.02% of the $12 trillion market—while resulting in an annual welfare loss of $800 million for users. Parallel to the CLARITY Act, the Treasury has proposed rules under the GENIUS Act to mandate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) programs for stablecoin issuers. This framework would treat issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, granting them authority to freeze or reject transactions. Industry experts warn this move effectively turns stablecoin issuers into bank-like gatekeepers, potentially increasing the scale of asset seizures and wallet freezes.