Pompliano Says Bitcoin Doesn’t Need CLARITY Act — Real Battle Is Over Bank Control of Stablecoin Yield

• Anthony Pompliano stated that Bitcoin already enjoys regulatory clarity, as its status as a digital commodity and store of value is widely accepted.
• He said the CLARITY Act is much more important for stablecoins and yield-bearing crypto products than it is for Bitcoin itself.
• Hopes for a Senate vote this week have faded, with focus now turning to next week as lawmakers scramble to begin the cloture process before the August recess.

Bitcoin (BTC) doesn’t need the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), to succeed, according to Anthony Pompliano, who said on Tuesday that the cryptocurrency already has effective regulatory clarity.

Bitcoin is a digital currency, and there’s no debate as to what it is, Pompliano, Founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management (BRR), said in a podcast. He added that the apex cryptocurrency was not a security, but functioned as a “store of value,” and was held by hundreds of millions of people around the world, a consensus he said the crypto industry itself did not dispute. 

Even if a delay could dent short-term market momentum and sentiment among traders was positioned for the bill’s passage, the status of Bitcoin won’t change depending on whether the bill cleared the Senate, he said. He added that framing the CLARITY Act as something Bitcoin needs to “pass” misses the point.

Bitcoin’s price was up over 1% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BTC remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘low’ levels over the past day.

Banking Industry's Sticking Point

According to Pompliano, the passage of the CLARITY Act would be more relevant to stablecoins and yield-bearing products. The debate wasn’t about whether crypto users deserved access to yield, as both sides agreed it helped consumers, but about who was allowed to provide it, according to the investor and entrepreneur.

The real substance of the bill’s fights was that banks wanted to keep crypto firms boxed out of offering yield as traditional institutions did, he added.

CLARITY Act Deadline Looms

Pompliano’s comments came as the Senate’s own timeline for the bill kept slipping. 

Hopes were fading that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) would hold a “cloture vote on the CLARITY Act” this week, said journalist Eleanor Terrett on Tuesday. Thune would have had to file cloture, a procedural vote requiring 60 senators to end debate and force a bill to a final vote, on the motion to proceed that day to set up a vote on Thursday, but people involved in the process expected a Russia/Iran sanctions bill to take precedence instead, she said.  

Industry stakeholders told Terrett that eyes had turned to next week as "imperative" for Senate leadership to at least start the cloture process before the August recess.

Arthur Hayes had echoed Pompliano’s sentiments earlier in May, when he argued that the CLARITY Act “fundamentally misunderstands what Bitcoin is.” He added that the crypto market didn’t need any regulation at all, pointing to the price performance of the asset class as proof.

Read also: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says 'Crypto Voters Are Watching' As 70% Say It'll Sway Their Midterm Vote

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.