Original title: What builders need to know about the CIA Act, what it is and why it matters
it's not like it's a bad idea
Original: Joy ChainCatcher

The Senate Banking Commission has just voted in a bipartisan manner to move forward with encrypted "market structure" legislation (i.e. legislation on market division of labour, supervisory duties and rules of trade), a historic moment in the encryption industry。

WHAT IS THE REASON? BECAUSE THE DIGITAL ASSET MARKET CLARITY BILL WILL EVENTUALLY ESTABLISH CLEAR RULES FOR BLOCK CHAIN NETWORKS AND DIGITAL ASSETS。

OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE UNITED STATES HAS SUFFERED FROM A LACK OF CLEAR REGULATION, DISTORTED MARKETS, SUPPRESSED INNOVATION AND EXPOSED CONSUMERS TO GREAT RISKS. CLARITY WILL END THIS SITUATION。

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 ESTABLISHED AN INVESTOR PROTECTION MECHANISM THAT UNDERPINNED CAPITAL FORMATION AND INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES FOR A LATER CENTURY. CLARITY HAS A SIMILAR MEANING — A UNIQUE SHIFT IN THE FINANCIAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH OFFERS GREAT OPPORTUNITIES。

With the Senate ' s consideration just today, this foundational legislation, which is essential for the entire encryption industry, is closer to law than ever before。

Both founders, consumers and large traditional financial institutions and investors who are migrating to the chain will benefit。

Subsequently, the bills of the two committees of the National Assembly would be consolidated into a full bill, to be voted by the Senate in plenary. Once adopted, they are sent to the House for approval and, if successful, to the White House for signature by the President。

WHY DOES AMERICA NEED CLARITY NOW

While the encryption industry has expanded over the past decade, the United States has not had a complete regulatory framework. Regulators can only regulate the industry by putting together existing regulations, which is a complete failure。

This has not only resulted in confusion in legal interpretation and repetition, but has also led to serious government overstepping and abuse of power。

This regulatory uncertainty not only discourages innovation, but also provides a breeding ground for bad players. In the past decade, in highly exposed negative news in the encryption sector, people with a bad motivation have been able to easily launch products that are not well regulated and exploit consumers。

At the same time, responsible builders are faced with questionable “law enforcement” legislation。

This uncertainty has pushed encryption development overseas. When the United States is unable to provide space for innovation, entrepreneurs look to other jurisdictions, including where more sophisticated regulatory regimes have been introduced。

The European Union's Code of Encrypted Asset Markets (MiCA) and British Code of Encryption are two examples of the lag in the United States。

Fortunately, to the extent of innovation in the United States, no other jurisdiction has yet righted regulatory options. But tailor-made regulatory regimes eventually attract and concentrate entrepreneurial activity in these areas, along with the economic value and employment opportunities they create。

Imagine what the US economy would look like if Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, NVIDIA and Salesforce were created outside the United States。

THUS, DOMESTIC INNOVATION WOULD BENEFIT GREATLY IF THE UNITED STATES PROVIDED REGULATORY CLARITY TO BUILDERS. A CASE IN POINT IS THE GENIUS ACT PASSED BY THE UNITED STATES IN JULY 2025 (THE NATIONAL INNOVATION ACT TO GUIDE AND ESTABLISH THE US STABLE CURRENCY)。

GENIUS ESTABLISHED A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR THE STABILIZATION OF CURRENCY (DIGITAL ASSETS LINKED TO FRENCH CURRENCY, USUALLY ANCHORED IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS) THAT LED TO A COMPLETELY NEW MODEL: AN OPEN MONETARY INFRASTRUCTURE。

The adoption of the bill has brought unprecedented growth and adoption, benefiting the United States economy and the long-term dominance of the dollar。

When the legal framework is designed to promote innovation and protect consumers, the United States can lead the tide and the world can benefit from it。

Those entrepreneurs and early users who believed in the promise of encryption, however viewed by the outside world, should have a clear regulatory framework to realize their vision。

They also need a framework that recognizes the potential of block-chain networks to drive an important and innovative technological platform transformation. This transition goes beyond the speculative application of bad policies to enable people to build on the initial financial scene (which itself is already covered by current United States regulations)。

CLARITY IS TAILORED TO CREATE SUCH A CLEAR FRAMEWORK。

How did we get here

IT'S NOT ALL NEW. MANY OF THESE CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES DERIVE FROM EXISTING COMMODITY AND SECURITIES LAWS. THE BILL ALSO EVOLVED FROM SEVERAL LEGISLATIVE ROUNDS, INCLUDING TWO "MARKET STRUCTURES" THAT ORIGINATED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

FINANCIAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ACT 21 OF 2024, KNOWN AS FIT21 (HR 4763); DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS ACT 2025 (HR 3633)。

SIMILAR TO THE CURRENT SENATE BILL, BOTH THE FIT21 AND THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES VERSION OF THE CLARITY ARE TRYING TO GIVE THE BLOCK CHAIN NETWORK A PATH THAT ALLOWS THEM TO:

• Safe and effective activation of block chain networks and digital assets in the United States

:: CLARIFY THE DIVISION OF REGULATION BETWEEN SEC AND CFTC IN THE AREA OF ENCRYPTION AND WHETHER DIGITAL ASSETS ARE SECURITIES OR COMMODITIES

:: Ensuring oversight of encrypted trading platforms

• Further protect United States consumers by regulating encrypted transactions。

TWO YEARS AGO, FIT21 PASSED WITH THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT OF BOTH PARTIES (279 VOTES TO 136, OF WHICH 71 DEMOCRATS SUPPORTED)。

THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES VERSION, CLARITY, WAS ADOPTED IN JULY 2025 WITH A HIGHER BIPARTISAN SUPPORT (294 VOTES TO 134, OF WHICH 78 DEMOCRATS SUPPORTED)。

Together, these bills send a strong signal to the Senate to speed up encrypted market structure legislation。

THE SENATE VERSION OF CARITY BUILDS ON THE MOMENTUM OF BIPARTISAN COOPERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IMPROVES ON SEVERAL KEY POINTS OVER PREVIOUS BILLS (SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS). THE BILL HAS BEEN ADVANCED IN THE SENATE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HAS BEEN THE FASTEST IN THE PAST YEAR:

I don't knowJune 2022For the first time, Senator Lummis and Gillibrand introduced the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Bill, the first bipartisan legislative proposal to establish a complete regulatory framework for the encryption industry。

I don't knowJuly 2025The Senate Banking Commission (the committee overseeing the SEC) has published drafts for discussion of bills within its jurisdiction, consolidating and harmonizing the Lummis-Gillibrand Act and the Chamber of Deputies version of the CLARITY。

• Issue information requests, collect feedback and legislative solutions in the hope of finding a balance between innovation and maintaining financial stability and consumer protection。

I don't knowSeptember 2025On the basis of the feedback received, the Senate Banking Commission issued a second discussion draft。

I don't knowJanuary 2026The Senate Banking Commission issued another version, reflecting the results of negotiations between the two parties over the past months。

I don't knowAlso January 2026The Senate Committee on Agriculture has issued and advanced draft legislation on market structures within its jurisdiction。

I don't knowToday (14 May 2026)THE SENATE BANKING COMMISSION HAS JUST ADVANCED THE PART OF THE CLARITY BILL THAT IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR AT THE "REVIEW" SESSION。

CLARITY, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT: INTERNET IS NOT A COMPANY

For more than a century, building companies has been a major engine of innovation in the United States. This path is well established: entrepreneurs finance their own businesses and, when successful, generate profit returns for shareholders。

U.S. law finely sharpened the model, imposed responsibilities, emphasized transparency and was used to inspire and manage trust among founders and operators。

This framework is appropriate for building companies. But it's not a network。

The existing legal framework presupposes control by a manager and requires that such control be sustained. But the network has no control. Networks rely on shared rules for focal points, capital and resources rather than on centralized ownership。

Putting the framework created for the company on the web would distort the network into a corporate form. Controls are regrouped, intermediaries re-emerge, and those who rely on the system are exploited for value。

Looking at the digital economy as a whole, this dynamic has given rise to a network of companies with significant centralized power — payment systems, electricity markets, social platforms, application stores — which capture a disproportionate share of the value created by participants。

Internet users paid $100 for a trip, and the driver received only a fraction. Musicians write songs that are listened to by millions of people, who can only get a few cents of each dollar of income。

Where corporate networks dominate, most value flows to intermediaries. Traditional company laws protect these intermediaries and their investors, but users, creators and workers are not protected。

In most of the Internet age, such trade-offs were not possible. Open agreements lack sustainable economic models and cannot compete with the capital and coordination capacity behind corporate networks。

The block chain changed that。

The block chain and the software protocols deployed on it have created a new type of system: a block chain network. The goal of such networks is to decentralize control, operate in accordance with transparent rules, and exist as a shared infrastructure owned and operated by users。

The value of the block chain network increases as it is used by the public and can be allocated to participants — including those at the edge of the network — rather than being removed by the centre nodes。

The chain of blocks makes it possible to "build networks that really work like networks and not like companies."。

Block chain technology is at a critical juncture. Several past platform transformations — personal computers, mobile phones and the Internet — have been the most important technological innovations in human history. The emergence of artificial intelligence is also rapidly becoming one of them。

But all of these platforms have been transformed, ultimately with a high concentration of power and control, and a few have determined the fate of countless consumers, creators and developers who depend on these technologies and services。

As more and more economic activities are digitized and more and more links are shaped by artificial intelligence, the question of who controls the digital system on which we rely becomes more critical than ever。

If such control continues to be concentrated, so does the ability to shape results, limit access and capture value: companies will dominate the way the network operates and decide who benefits from it。

The centralized block chain network offers another route: an infrastructure that no single participant can easily rewrite, review or reorient。

In other words, such a network could help to centralize existing platforms and replace them with a network with digital public goods attributes — reduced locking effect, decentralized control, embedded neutrality, reduced single-point failure risk and returned ownership to users。

THE CLARITY ACT WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE IT WORK。

ONCE CLARITY HAS ENTERED THE SENATE AND IS UPDATED, WE WILL SHARE MORE ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS SPECIFICALLY FOR ENCRYPTION BUILDERS。

BUT IF CLARITY ADOPTS THE NEXT AND LAST STEPS IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED STATES WILL FINALLY MATCH THE ESSENCE OF THE BLOCK CHAIN NETWORK. BUILDERS WILL BE ABLE TO OPERATE TRANSPARENTLY, FINANCE DOMESTICALLY, BUILD FOR THE LONG TERM, AND NO LONGER NEED TO BE FORCED TO MAKE STRUCTURAL COMPROMISES BECAUSE OF REGULATORY AMBIGUITY。

As more and more projects operate within, rather than outside, United States regulation, regulators and law enforcement agencies will have better tools to combat fraud and abuse that have plagued the industry for so long。

What happens when the encryption comes to a viable oversight, and we've seen it once: the Genuus Act releases a wave of innovation overnight. Today we can see encryption in several mainstream applications, ranging from stabilization coins to AI anent, and so on -- that's good。

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