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Anti-corruption and national security groups are urging US Senate leaders to revise crypto market structure legislation, warning that gaps in the CLARITY Act could make digital assets easier to use for money laundering, sanctions evasion and other financial crimes.
The warning targets the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act as lawmakers try to finish a federal rulebook for crypto trading, token classification and market oversight. The bill is meant to divide authority between the SEC and CFTC while giving digital asset firms clearer registration paths.
Letter Warns Thune and Schumer on DeFi
The letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was backed by groups including Transparency International US, the Free Russia Foundation, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition and the Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative.
Their concern is that decentralized platforms, mixers and offshore structures could avoid anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules if the bill does not give Treasury enough authority. The groups warned that corrupt regimes, traffickers and criminal networks could use those gaps to move funds through crypto markets.
Groups Seek Stronger Treasury Tools
The groups are not arguing against a federal crypto rulebook. Their position is that market structure legislation should not make trading rules clearer while, in their view, leaving enforcement agencies with weaker tools for illicit-finance cases.
The warning puts pressure on lawmakers to address DeFi, sanctions and offshore activity before the bill moves further through the Senate.
Senate Text Adds Compliance Provisions
Supporters of the CLARITY Act argue the bill already addresses crime risk. The Senate Banking Committee text includes consumer safety provisions, reporting standards and customer-identification requirements aimed at illicit finance.
The text also calls for studies on cybersecurity, DeFi risk, digital asset mixers and foreign adversary activity. Those reviews are meant to give regulators and lawmakers more information on where crypto markets create enforcement problems.
SEC Keeps Tokenized Securities Authority
The bill also keeps tokenized securities under SEC authority and sets disclosure and market conduct rules for digital asset intermediaries. That structure is meant to replace years of enforcement-led regulation with clearer market rules.
Supporters say the framework would move more crypto activity into supervised venues instead of leaving firms to operate under unclear or contested rules.
FBI Reported $9.3B in Crypto Fraud
The debate comes as crypto crime remains costly for US victims and enforcement agencies. The FBI said cryptocurrency fraud accounted for at least $9.3 billion in reported losses in 2024, up 66% from the prior year.
That makes illicit finance one of the hardest issues in the market structure debate. Lawmakers want to move trading activity into regulated venues, but critics say a weak bill could legalize activity without giving investigators enough tools.
The issue now is whether Senate negotiators add stronger Treasury and sanctions language before a floor vote.
