Solana Institute urges Senate to preserve CLARITY protections

• The Solana Institute called on US senators to keep Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provisions unchanged in the CLARITY Act.
• Industry groups argue non-custodial developers, validators and node operators should not be regulated as money transmitters.
• Congressional timing challenges have shifted expectations for CLARITY Act passage from July toward the August recess.

The Solana Institute urged US senators to preserve Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provisions within the CLARITY Act as the legislation moves closer to Senate consideration.

The request comes as expectations for passage have shifted from a July 4 target toward the August congressional recess due to procedural requirements and ongoing negotiations.

“Non-custodial developers, validators, and node operators should not be classified as money transmitters,” said Solana Institute President Kristin Smith.

Smith said the provisions would clarify that blockchain developers, validators and node operators that do not control customer funds should not be regulated as money transmitters under US law.

Industry participants continue lobbying lawmakers as Senate committees work through remaining issues, including ethics provisions and potential revisions discussed during meetings involving law enforcement officials and the White House; following the developments there was no immediate market reaction.

The CLARITY Act would establish regulatory boundaries for digital assets by assigning oversight of decentralised cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while securities would remain under existing securities regulators.

Smith said the US share of open-source crypto developers has declined from 38% in 2015 to about 19% today and argued that regulatory certainty could influence where future blockchain development occurs.

At the time of reporting, Solana price was $73.92.