The US government is taking steps towards regulating the digital asset market with the advancement of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The bill, which passed in a 15-9 vote, seeks to establish clearer rules for digital assets and strengthen consumer protection. One of the main goals of the legislation is to prevent stablecoins from functioning like bank deposits by limiting passive yield on customer holdings.
The bill also addresses concerns over decentralized finance (DeFi), including how far regulation should extend to developers, protocols, and infrastructure providers that do not directly custody user funds. Additionally, ethics provisions were a point of contention during the markup process, with lawmakers divided over whether and how to restrict potential conflicts of interest involving public officials and cryptoasset activities.