Cuomo Urges U.S. to Pass CLARITY Act on Crypto

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is intended to replace the fragmented U.S. crypto rulebook with a federal market-structure regime. It would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a central role over digital commodities and trading intermediaries while defining the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority. The House passed H.R. 3633 by 294-134 on July 17, 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15-9 on May 14, 2026, putting state-versus-federal enforcement at the center of the debate.

New York Attorney General Letitia James submitted written testimony on July 27, 2026, to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, warning that the measure would pre-empt state regulation and dilute local fraud enforcement. She said crypto-scam complaints to her office had tripled over three years and reported losses approached $500 million over five years. James urged Congress to preserve state money-transmission, commodities and securities laws and require platforms to meet anti-money-laundering, know-your-customer and cybersecurity standards, monitor suspicious activity and bear financial liability when safeguards fail.

The US Congress is considering the CLARITY Act, which seeks to clarify regulatory responsibilities for digital assets and trading platforms and reduce legal uncertainty for crypto companies. Senator Cynthia Lummis says clear rules are critical to bringing businesses back to the United States and preserving the country’s leadership in financial technology.

Lummis warned that this week could be the United States’ last critical opportunity to advance the CLARITY Act before 2030. She said China could otherwise write the rules for a new financial era. Negotiations have continued since the Senate returned, but Democrats and Republicans remain divided over provisions covering lawmakers’ ethics and safeguards against bad actors. A vote on crypto market structure could take place as early as August.