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Garlinghouse praised CLARITY Act for being a major step towards a clear U.S. crypto rule.
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The bill aims at defining SEC and CFTC role and strengthening investor protection.
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The momentum slowed down after Coinbase withdrew its support, forcing Senators to delay the markup.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has responded positively to the new momentum surrounding U.S. crypto regulations. He called the Senate Banking Committee’s CLARITY act a “massive leap forward” for digital asset industry.
Garlinghouse welcomes regulatory clarity
Garlinghouse wrote in a recent X post that the move by Senator Tim Scott, and Senate Banking Committee Republicans is long overdue but represents a meaningful step forward towards workable crypto market structures rules. He said that “clarity is better than chaos” and noted that Ripple had experienced first-hand how regulatory uncertainty could hold back innovation.
Garlinghouse said that the crypto sector as a whole would benefit from the success of the bill. He added that Ripple is still actively involved in the discussions and is optimistic about remaining issues being resolved during the markup.
CLARITY Act to be a Key Senate Measure
Garlinghouse’s remarks came in response to an elaborate statement from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee GOP. It outlined the CLARITY act’s goals and scope ahead of an important procedural markup scheduled on January 13, 2026.
The committee said that the legislation was the result of six months of bipartisan discussions and consultations between regulators, legal specialists, academics and industry participants. The goal is to replace fragmented supervision with a clear, enforceable regulatory framework.
Define Securities and Commodities
The CLARITY Act aims to define clearly which digital assets are securities and which are commodities. According to the proposal, assets classified securities would be subject to full SEC oversight. This includes disclosure requirements, resale restriction, and anti-fraud provisions.
The committee stressed that the bill did not weaken securities laws, but rather reinforced existing principles and adapted them to modern digital market.
Related: Can One Bill Fix U.S. Crypto Rules? Inside the CLARITY Act
Investor Protection and Systemic risk
The Senate Banking Committee describes CLARITY as a bill that protects investors to prevent another FTX style collapse. The legislation would bring crypto into a formalized regulatory structure with penalties for fraud and manipulation.
Lawmakers also argued the real risk is regulatory uncertainty. This has led many crypto firms to operate overseas with limited U.S. supervision.
Illicit Finance and DeFi: Addressing Concerns
The bill also contains provisions that target illicit finance, compliance with sanctions, and national-security risks. According to the committee it establishes for digital assets the strongest anti-money laundering frame work Congress has ever considered while maintaining lawful innovation.
The CLARITY Act protects software developers, and their right to self-custody. Developers who maintain or publish code without controlling funds from users would not be treated like financial intermediaries. The enforcement would be focused on the actual code and not the code itself.
Shift from Uncertainty to Structure
The Senate Banking Committee concluded the CLARITY act aims to close regulatory gaps and allocate responsibilities between SEC and CFTC. It also seeks to replace years of uncertainty by a clear path.
Garlinghouse’s reply suggests that major crypto companies see this moment as an important turning point. Some industry stakeholders, like Coinbase, have raised objections.
Senate Delays Crypto Bill after Coinbase Withdraws Support
After reviewing the draft language, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the company would no longer support the bill. He cited concerns about the limits on tokenized equities and expanded government access to DeFi data, as well as reduced CFTC supervision in favor of SEC oversight, and changes affecting rewards for stablecoins.
The Senate Banking Committee has therefore postponed the planned markup. This has slowed down the momentum for crypto regulation in the United States. Chairman Tim Scott stated that negotiations are in progress but acknowledged the fact that unresolved differences made immediate action impractical.
The main sticking points are the stablecoin rewards system, ethics provisions and regulatory authority. These pressures have divided legislators, including Republicans in the committee, leaving the legislation without enough support to move forward.
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