Clarity and Control: What Two Landmark Bills Mean for the Future of Digital Assets

On July 17, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced two major digital asset bills: the Digital Asset Market Structure (CLARITY) Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Both measures now head to the Senate for consideration before potentially becoming law. Together, they represent a pivotal moment in U.S. digital asset policy – supporting decentralized innovation while expressing caution around centralized digital currency models that may raise privacy concerns.

CLARITY Act: Drawing the Lines for Digital Assets

The CLARITY Act addresses one of the most persistent challenges in the digital asset space: regulatory uncertainty. It establishes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the primary regulator for digital commodities, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) retains authority over fundraising through investment contracts. Under this framework, projects that qualify as a “mature blockchain” – defined as decentralized, widely held, and not controlled by insiders – could raise up to $75 million annually without undergoing full securities registration.

Centralized platforms, including exchanges and brokers, would need to register with the CFTC, comply with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements, and provide transparent disclosures that include token economics and source code. The Act also creates a qualified custodian framework to enhance institutional protection and introduce provisional registration so businesses can operate while transitioning to full compliance.

Anti-CBDC Act: Guardrails for Privacy and Freedom

While the CLARITY Act seeks to promote responsible innovation, the Anti-CBDC Act serves as a safeguard for financial privacy and individual autonomy. It prohibits the Federal Reserve and other agencies from issuing or piloting a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). Lawmakers behind the bill stress that a programmable CBDC could enable government tracking or restriction of individual transactions. This legislation sets a clear line by ensuring that any future U.S. digital currency respects privacy and financial autonomy.

Compliance Requirements: A New Era of Oversight

The CLARITY Act introduces one of the most substantial expansions of financial compliance in the industry’s history. It introduces BSA requirements that extend banking-level compliance obligations to digital commodity exchanges, brokers, dealers, and qualified custodians. These entities must now implement comprehensive know your customer (KYC) programs, suspicious activity reporting, cross-border transaction monitoring, and illicit financing oversight, aligning digital asset flows with traditional banking standards.

This regulatory shift fundamentally transforms the digital asset industry from its historically light approach – requiring substantial investments in compliance infrastructure, staff training, sophisticated monitoring systems, and comprehensive audit trails. The complexity and costs may favor larger, well-capitalized firms over smaller innovators, while the provisional registration framework provides only temporary relief during the phase-in period.

The legislation’s exemptions for certain decentralized finance activities could open the door to regulatory arbitrage, allowing bad actors to shift to fully decentralized protocols to sidestep anti-money laundering (AML) requirements – leaving key questions around illicit activity prevention unanswered.

Why This Matters: Clarity, Confidence & Global Competitiveness

These bills represent a pivotal step toward a cohesive national strategy for digital assets. For businesses, they provide a clearer path for token launches, platform registration, and disclosures. This reduces legal uncertainty and builds investor confidence. For regulators, they outline a more coordinated approach between the SEC and CFTC, improving oversight without duplicating responsibilities.

On the international stage, these measures signal that the United States is serious about fostering innovation within a framework that protects both markets and individual privacy. This direction could help attract global projects and investment to U.S. markets seeking regulatory stability.

Wolf’s Approach to Helping You Navigate What’s Next

At Wolf & Company, we view these developments as an encouraging sign for the future of the industry. For years, many digital asset businesses have operated in a gray area, working to remain compliant in the absence of clear rules. These bills bring a long-awaited structure to that landscape.

Our Digital Assets team partners with exchanges, custodians, funds, and other companies across the ecosystem, providing financial statement audits, SOC reports, BSA/AML audits, and Proof of Reserves attestations. As these new requirements take shape, our expertise can help businesses strengthen their compliance programs, build trust with stakeholders, and confidently navigate the evolving regulatory environment.

Contact our team today to learn more.