Crypto Industry Safe Even Without Clarity Act

Perkins: Regulatory Progress Does Not Depend on a Single Bill

Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction podcast, Chris Perkins, CEO of 250 Digital Asset Management, made the case that the US crypto industry does not need the CLARITY Act to thrive. "If not, we're going to be just fine," Perkins said, arguing that the two major financial regulators are already building workable frameworks without waiting for Congress to act.

Perkins pointed specifically to the efforts of SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig. The two agencies released a joint interpretation in March clarifying how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets — a move Perkins described as already delivering the certainty, stability, and classification system the industry has long needed.

His comments come as the fate of the CLARITY Act — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, which seeks to define which digital assets are securities and which are commodities — remains uncertain in the Senate. The House passed the bill in July 2025 with bipartisan support, but the Senate path has been complicated by disputes over stablecoin yield provisions and reconciliation with a competing Senate framework.

Legislation Still Matters — But It Is Not the Only Path

Perkins stopped short of dismissing the CLARITY Act entirely. He acknowledged that passing legislation would represent a significant milestone, since statutory rules are far harder for future administrations to reverse than agency-level guidance. The key advantage, in his view, is permanence: congressional law creates lasting legal foundations in a way that regulatory policy simply cannot.

That tension — between agency-driven frameworks that can shift with each administration, and congressional legislation that locks in the rules — sits at the heart of the current debate. Under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, being classified as a security was widely seen as a setback for crypto projects. Under Atkins, that dynamic has shifted, with a security classification increasingly seen as a potential pathway to structured compliance rather than a dead end.

Political momentum around the CLARITY Act has been building, with Senator Bernie Moreno predicting the bill could be completed by late May. However, a separate policy expert cited by BSCN put the odds of passage this year at just 30%, a reminder that the legislative road remains difficult.

For now, Perkins and other industry participants appear to take comfort in the direction of travel at the agency level, even as the legislative outcome remains open.

Sources:
Cointelegraph — Crypto industry will be 'just fine' if CLARITY Act doesn't pass: Chris Perkins
MoneyCheck — CLARITY Act Advances as Senators Strike Stablecoin Yield Deal

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