Protect Developers or Weaken Oversight? Judiciary Committee Strongly Opposes Section 604 of the CLARITY Act
BlockBeats News, January 17th, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee stated in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee that the "Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act" would weaken federal fund transfer regulation and should not be included in cryptocurrency market structure legislation.
The Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman, Chuck Grassley, and chief Democratic member, Dick Durbin, wrote in the letter that Section 604 of the Banking Committee's market structure bill - aimed at protecting software developers from criminal liability for third-party misuse of their products - would "weaken" federal law regarding unlicensed money transmission. "The Senate Judiciary Committee (which has jurisdiction over Title 18 of the U.S. Code) was not consulted, nor was it afforded the opportunity for advance substantive consideration of the proposed changes."
The letter cited the case of the Department of Justice's prosecution of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, stating that the case demonstrated that the prosecuting party had sufficiently argued the importance of existing regulations holding parties to unlicensed money transmission accountable. This letter is another blow to the market structure bill, with the Senate Banking Committee originally scheduled to debate and vote on the bill on Thursday but canceling the agenda on Wednesday night in the face of increasingly strong opposition.
If the provision is retained in the bill, the Judiciary Committee (responsible for legal matters) would need to sign off as the third committee on the overall package, and this latest controversy suggests that the legislative process may become even more complicated. DeFi advocates insist that without these specific protection provisions, they may withdraw their support, signaling another difficult deadlock.
The letter emphasized: "Therefore, we urge the committee to reject any proposed provisions that would weaken the government's ability to hold parties accountable for unlicensed money transmission, including Section 604."
You may also like

Cross-chain Collaboration: Tom Lee Invests $200 Million, Joins Forces with Global Top Streamer Mr. Beast

Trump Waves Hand, Stirs Venezuela's Game Hurricane

The Genius Stopping Law: Why Did Coinbase Backpedal at the Eleventh Hour?

Fact Check: How Much Money Did the University of Chicago Lose in its Crypto Investment?

Rumor has it that Coinbase is set to acquire Farcaster, still an Acquihire.

$200K Annual Salary Hiring, Predicting Market Will See Wall Street Players

Former Star Public Blockchain Berachain in Crisis: Price Collapse, Layoffs, Developer Exodus

Coinbase CEO Raises Red Flags Regarding US Crypto Bill
Key Takeaways Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voices opposition to the proposed Senate crypto bill, citing significant concerns. The…

Transforming the Cryptocurrency Landscape: A 2026 Outlook
Key Takeaways Cryptocurrency systems have seen expansive growth and technological innovation. The introduction of new regulations has reshaped…

New ChatGPT Forecasts for XRP, Ethereum, and Solana by 2026
Key Takeaways ChatGPT predicts a potential bull market for XRP, Ethereum, and Solana by 2026, supported by the…

An Insight into the Dynamics of Crypto Market Trends
Key Takeaways The article provides a comprehensive look at the latest developments in the cryptocurrency market. Insight is…

Senate Crypto Bill Markup Rescheduled to January 27 Amid Legislative Momentum
Key Takeaways The Senate Agriculture Committee has rescheduled the release of the legislative text for crypto market structure…

Bitchat Downloads Surge in Uganda as Government Implements Internet Shutdown Before Elections
Key Takeaways: Uganda’s government enforced an internet blackout ahead of elections, pushing citizens to download Bitchat, a decentralized…

CLARITY Act Hearing Suddenly Postponed – Where Does the Disagreement Lie?

YO Protocol’s Automated Conversion Error Resolves $3.7 Million Shortfall
Key Takeaways YO Protocol, a decentralized finance platform, recently experienced an automated conversion operation error, resulting in a…

Sonic Labs Recovers and Redistributes Millions in Stolen Assets
Key Takeaways Sonic Labs has successfully recovered 5,829,196 stolen S tokens after a November 2025 exploit. These recovered…

Dolomite Surges with Prominent Integrations Boosting Market Value
Key Takeaways Dolomite (DOLO) has seen a significant 24.60% price increase in the last 24 hours, currently trading…

YO Protocol Suffers $3.7 Million Loss in Unfortunate Swap Incident
Key Takeaways YO Protocol experienced a $3.7 million loss due to a mistaken swap involving YoUSD. The incident…