What Happens to Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP if the CLARITY Act Passes?

The CLARITY Act sets out to answer a question U.S. regulators have struggled with for over a decade: when does a crypto token count as an investment, and when does it behave more like a commodity such as gold. The answer determines who regulates a token, what its creators must disclose, and what rules a platform must follow when it lists that token or holds it on behalf of customers.

Main Problem the Bill Is Trying to Fix

When a company or development team creates a new token and sells it to fund a project, that sale can resemble an investment, since early buyers are often betting on the team successfully building and promoting the network. Years later, the same token might trade widely across a decentralized network with its value no longer tied to that original team. At that point, it starts to look more like a commodity than a security.

U.S. law currently offers no clear rule for when a token crosses that line, and two different regulators are involved. The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees securities, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees futures markets and has narrower authority over direct commodity trading. Traditional assets fall cleanly into one category or the other. Crypto often does not.