CoinDesk
The Senate Banking Committee advanced the Clarity Act with bipartisan support, sending the digital-assets framework to the Senate floor with the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) intact after a filed amendment sought to strip it. Rival crypto founders, CEOs and investors — competitors for talent, capital and market share — signed a single letter to Senate leaders asking lawmakers not to weaken the developer protections as the bill moves toward a final vote.
The BRCA draws a clean legal line: developers who write open-source software, run a node or help validate transactions — and never take custody of customer funds — are not money transmitters under federal law. Without that guarantee, the rest of the Clarity Act's market structure has no one left to regulate, because the engineers who build the underlying technology would already be priced out of operating in the U.S.
Why it matters
The U.S. share of the world's open-source crypto developers has fallen from 38% in 2015 to roughly 19% today, a stat the industry cites as evidence that prosecutorial ambiguity is already pushing talent offshore. The Tornado Cash conviction of developer Roman Storm for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business has become the cautionary case study, and Treasury's 2019 FinCEN guidance — which already recognized that publishing software used by money transmitters does not by itself make someone one — is the regulatory floor the BRCA would harden into statute.
The provision has unusual bipartisan pedigree: Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) carry it in the Senate, with Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) leading the House version. The bill does not legalize money laundering, sanctions evasion or fraud — anyone holding customer funds remains subject to existing AML rules — but the bright line is what lets builders commit code from American soil without criminal-law overhang.
Market impact
A diluted BRCA would push the engineering base of DeFi protocols and core networks like Solana further toward Singapore and Abu Dhabi, accelerating a talent migration that is already a decade old.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA)?
The BRCA is a provision in the Clarity Act that clarifies developers who write open-source software, run a node or help validate transactions — without taking custody of customer funds — are not money transmitters under federal law.
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Why are crypto CEOs writing a joint letter to the Senate?
Rival founders, CEOs and investors signed one letter asking Senate leaders not to weaken the developer protections in the Clarity Act before a floor vote, arguing the rest of the bill is meaningless if the builders are pushed offshore.
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What happened to U.S. crypto developer share?
The U.S. share of the world's open-source crypto developers has fallen from 38% in 2015 to roughly 19% in the latest annual count, according to figures cited in the push to keep the BRCA intact.
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Who is carrying the BRCA in Congress?
In the Senate it is carried by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR); in the House by Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY).
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Does the BRCA weaken anti-money-laundering enforcement?
No. The provision does not legalize money laundering, sanctions evasion, fraud, trafficking or terrorist financing. Anyone who holds customer funds remains subject to existing AML rules — the carve-out only covers non-custodial software developers.
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