With the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) increase delayed indefinitely in the US Senate Banking Committee, leaders in decentralized finance are using the delay to pressure lawmakers on the bill.
Before the Republican leaders of the Banking Committee decided to delay the margin on Wednesday night, crypto industry groups raised concerns about provisions related to tokenized shares, stablecoin rewards and their potential impact on DeFi platforms. DeFi Education Fund he said on Wednesday that some proposed amendments could “seriously harm DeFi technology and/or make market structure legislation worse for software developers.”
Crypto-currency venture capital firms said the legislation would need to be revised to address concerns about DeFi and developer protection.
Alexander Grieve, vice president of government affairs at crypto investment firm Paradigm, he said the top priority was protecting developers and DeFi, adding that “significant changes” to the law were needed. Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer of Variant, he said on Thursday that his “biggest concern” is DeFi, noting that the account is not up to standards.
“The latest draft leaves it unclear whether all kinds of developers and infrastructure providers can be forced to KYC users, register with the SEC, or comply with other rules that don’t suit DeFi,” Chervinsky said on Xu.
Related: Goldman Sachs CEO says CLARITY Act ‘has a long way to go’
The bill was slated for an increase after months of delays related to lawmakers’ debates over decentralized finance, potential conflicts of interest and stablecoin provisions. However, Tim Scott, Chairman of the US Senate Banking Committee, announced “short pause” after Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said on X that the exchange could not support the bill as written.
What is the anti-DeFi bill about?
Unlike the banks lobbying for CLARITY to ban interest-bearing stablecoins, many industry advocates, including Armstrong, said the current version of the bill would limit the activities of DeFi platforms, potentially moving companies out of the US.
“I’m confident we can solve some of the problems with DeFi,” Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, told Cointelegraph. “I think right now part of the (focus) is on narrowing down certain definitions. But I’m confident that over the next two weeks or at least until the next mark, we can get to a good place with DeFi.”
“(DeFi and crypto developers) don’t really care about fighting for yield,” he said Todd Phillips, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business, in a post on Friday X. “They care about having a solid market structure that allows the crypto market to grow, not about clients holding their funds in banks or stablecoins, because what matters is their willingness to invest in new tokens.”
Some Senate Democrats reportedly did raised concerns about a draft law that allows DeFi platforms to facilitate illegal transactions, pushing for restrictions in amendments, including those flagged by the DeFi Education Fund.
As of Friday, no new date for the margin had been scheduled.
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