Digital Asset Market Clarity Act

New Title VI (Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act) added with sections 601-605 prohibiting Federal Reserve banks from directly or indirectly issuing a central bank digital currency for individuals and prohibiting certain CBDC-related products or services.

Title I heading changed from 'Provisional registration' to 'Expedited Registration,' and section 106 was renamed to 'Expedited registration for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers; provisional status,' suggesting a faster registration pathway with provisional status as an interim step.

New sections added throughout: treatment of non-controlling blockchain developers (sec. 109), rulemaking for dual-registered entities (sec. 304), broker and dealer disclosures regarding asset treatment (sec. 311), educational material requirements (sec. 314), a Discretionary Surplus Fund (sec. 315), other tradable assets (sec. 412), conflict of interest rulemaking (sec. 413), and additional studies including blockchain in payments, illicit use of digital assets, and a GAO study on foreign centralized intermediaries.

Section 502 'Modernization of the Securities and Exchange Commission mission' was removed from Title V, along with the old section 304 'Operation of alternative trading systems' which was replaced by the new dual-registered entity rulemaking provision.

The 'permitted payment stablecoin' definition was replaced with a simple cross-reference to the GENIUS Act, and a new 'permitted payment stablecoin issuer' term was added, also referencing the GENIUS Act. This ties the CLARITY Act's stablecoin framework directly to that separate legislation.

The 'end user distribution' definition was substantially expanded with a new subparagraph (B) covering protocol consensus participation, including self staking, self-custodial staking with a third party, and custodial/ancillary staking services. A 270-day rulemaking deadline was added for the SEC to define which custodial staking services qualify as administrative or ministerial.

The 'digital commodity affiliated person' and 'digital commodity related person' definitions were expanded to include acquisitions from 'an agent or underwriter thereof' (not just the issuer directly), and both now explicitly exclude decentralized governance systems.

The security exclusion within the digital commodity definition was expanded: notes, investment contracts, and profit-sharing certificates now also exclude assets that make the holder a creditor or give the right to receive interest or return of principal. The pooled investment vehicle exclusion was also broadened.

The 'decentralized governance system' definition was tightened: the legal entity exception now requires the entity not operate pursuant to 'centralized management' (dropping 'and hierarchical'), and the 'acting pursuant to an agreement to act in concert' language was added throughout to close a potential loophole where coordinated actors could claim decentralization.

The payment-related exemption for digital commodity brokers and dealers was narrowed from transactions where the 'primary purpose' is payments to transactions that are 'attributable or solely incidental' to payments, making it harder for firms to claim this exemption.

A new anti-evasion provision was added to the 'digital commodity issuer' definition making it unlawful to knowingly evade classification as an issuer, including via arrangements involving transfer of intellectual property associated with the blockchain system.