Clarity Act Clears Senate Banking Committee… Bitcoin Rebounds Over 2%
Bitcoin (BTC), which had dipped below 80,000 USD the previous day, rallied on news that the U.S. Digital Asset Market Structure Bill (Clarity Act) passed the Senate Banking Committee’s markup session.
As of 10:40 a.m. (South Korean time) on Friday, Bitcoin’s price on Bithumb, a major South Korean exchange, stood at 12,061,500 KRW (approximately 8,035), up 2.28% from the same time yesterday.
Globally, Bitcoin was trading at 81,406 USD, a 2.5% increase from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved the Clarity Act on Thursday with 15 votes in favor and 9 against during a full committee meeting.
The approved amendment to the Clarity Act limits interest payments for simply holding stablecoins but allows rewards for stablecoin-related activities such as payments and transactions.
The bill also categorizes digital assets into three groups: Digital Commodities, Investment Contract Assets, and Payment Stablecoins. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will oversee digital commodities, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will regulate investment contract assets.
Clarity Act Passes Senate Banking Committee 15-9
The Clarity Act, designed to regulate the U.S. digital asset market structure, cleared the Senate Banking Committee markup on Thursday.
This review, aimed at advancing the bill to the Senate floor, passed with 15 votes in favor and 9 against.
Ethics-related provisions proposed by Democratic members were rejected. Democrats on the committee had pushed for amendments prohibiting the president and senators from engaging in digital asset businesses and mandating related disclosures, targeting former President Donald Trump’s family’s involvement in the sector.
However, this proposal was defeated 11 to 13. The Senate Banking Committee comprises 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Coinbase CEO: Clarity Act Passage Marks Historic Moment for Digital Assets
The digital asset industry is responding positively to the Clarity Act’s advancement through the Senate Banking Committee.
The Clarity Act aims to classify digital assets by type, delineating the jurisdictions of the CFTC and SEC. This could benefit the industry by preventing the SEC from broadly regulating digital assets as securities.
Coinbase Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Armstrong tweeted on Thursday, that today, the Clarity Act passed the Senate Banking Committee. It’s a historic day for the future of U.S. digital assets. He added that the version passed today includes significant improvements over January’s proposal regarding stablecoin rewards, tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and CFTC authority.
The approved bill also addresses tokenized assets. Under the legislation, securities can be tokenized within federal securities law framework. While tokenized stocks remain classified as securities, this opens a path for their regulated trading.
Dartmouth College Invests in Solana Staking ETF
Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution, has disclosed an investment in a Solana staking exchange-traded fund (ETF).
On Thursday, Dartmouth’s board revealed in an SEC filing that it holds 3.3 million USD in Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF.
The college also disclosed holdings in Grayscale’s Ethereum staking ETF and BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF, iShares.
Dartmouth manages an endowment of approximately 9 billion USD and has reportedly increased its digital asset investments since January.