It’s time for clarity for America’s digital asset markets
Recent polls have shown that registered voters want America to set the rules for global finance, reinforcing why the Senate must act now, explains Smith.
For years, Washington treated digital assets as a moving target. The technology evolved quickly, the market was volatile, and policymakers were still sorting out the risks and opportunities. That is no longer the case. Lawmakers, regulators and staff have now spent years studying these markets, engaging stakeholders and wrestling with difficult questions around consumer protection, market integrity, custody, trading and disclosure.
The industry has changed as well. A sector that once spoke in scattered, often conflicting voices has become more disciplined in its engagement with policymakers. That matters because durable legislation comes from sustained engagement, practical proposals and a willingness to work through tradeoffs.
The House made that much clear when it passed the CLARITY Act with strong bipartisan support. That vote did not resolve every outstanding question, but it established something important: digital asset market structure belongs squarely on Congress’s agenda. The Senate now has a chance to build on that foundation.
It is doing so with a stronger policy foundation than it had even a year ago. The SEC and the CFTC have taken steps to improve coordination and clarify how existing law applies to parts of the market. Those efforts are important, but they also underscore the limits of agency action. Only Congress can provide durable rules on regulatory boundaries, registration requirements, market oversight and the treatment of digital assets that do not fit neatly within older frameworks.
Meanwhile, the market has continued to move ahead. Following the signing of the GENIUS Act, stablecoins have grown rapidly and are becoming more connected to mainstream payments infrastructure. Tokenization is moving from concept to institutional experimentation. Major financial firms are testing blockchain-based systems for settlement and other market functions. Public blockchain networks are increasingly part of that activity.
Some of that development is taking place on networks like Solana. PayPal expanded PYUSD to Solana to support faster, lower-cost payment use cases. Visa has included Solana in its stablecoin settlement work. And SoFi, which launched SoFiUSD in December, has said parts of its broader digital asset banking platform are expected to leverage Solana alongside other networks. These examples show how digital asset markets are becoming more connected to real financial activity.
