Important announcements have been made regarding the eagerly awaited regulatory changes in the cryptocurrency market. Ron Hammond, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Wintermute, assessed the latest developments on critical topics such as the Clarity Act, the banks’ stablecoin interest rate dilemma, and the anti-CBDC bill.
The clock is tightening for the Clarity Act (Digital Asset Market Structure Act), one of the most important legal issues for the crypto industry in the US. In an interview with Tony Edward on the Thinking Crypto podcast, Ron Hammond, policy leader at Wintermute, stated that while the market sees a 65% chance of it passing, he is more cautious and keeps his estimate around 30%.
According to Hammond, the Senate Banking Committee aims to hold a markup vote on the bill in the second half of April.
However, the expert warned, “If this process drags on until after Memorial Day and the country enters an election period, the chances of the law passing this year will be seriously jeopardized.”
Hammond stated that banks are opposing platforms like Coinbase offering yields on stablecoins and are intensifying their lobbying efforts on this issue, adding that the White House has sent a message to the banks saying, “Current laws allow Coinbase this right; it is in your best interest to sit down and negotiate.”
It is stated that banks play an obstructive role not only in the matter of interest rates but also in decentralized finance (DeFi) regulation, and that this is one of the biggest obstacles to the Clarity Act.
Republicans are also reportedly trying to remove the anti-CBDC regulation from the defense spending package and include it in the housing bill. The bill reportedly includes a ban by 2030, but some Republicans are stalling the process by demanding a permanent ban.
Ron Hammond noted that despite the slow progress in Congress, institutions like the SEC and CFTC are not sitting idle. He specifically mentioned Paul Atkins’ recent statements on token classification, suggesting that most tokens are not securities, which he described as a positive signal for the market.
However, Hammond cautioned that these steps were merely “guidance” and that the next administration could easily reverse these decisions unless a permanent law (Clarity Act) was in place.
If the Clarity Act doesn’t pass this year, the crypto industry will have to wait until the first or second quarter of 2027. However, the possibility of a shift in the congressional arithmetic by then, and the potential for anti-crypto figures like Maxine Waters to take on key roles, could lead to much harsher and more restrictive regulations.
*This is not investment advice.
