The CLARITY Act is the piece of U.S. legislation most likely to determine which federal agency actually regulates digital commodities and stablecoins, and the bill text itself is more precise than most of the commentary around it.
What the bill actually defines
The House Financial Services CLARITY Act text, also archived via GovInfo, lays out a formal definition for a permitted payment stablecoin. The bill defines it as a digital asset designed to be used as a means of payment or settlement, denominated in a national currency, issued by an entity subject to State or Federal regulatory and supervisory authority, and obligated to convert, redeem, or repurchase the token for a fixed amount of monetary value. That last piece, the fixed redemption obligation, is the part that separates a regulated payment stablecoin from an algorithmic or unbacked token under this framework.
Why the agency split matters
A large part of what CLARITY does is decide which digital assets fall under SEC jurisdiction versus CFTC jurisdiction, a question that has driven years of enforcement uncertainty in this industry. The Congressional Research Service overview is a useful plain-language summary of that jurisdictional split if the bill text itself is too dense, and the House Financial Services one-pager condenses it further.
Where to track the regulatory picture as it moves
Both agencies maintain their own resources on this: the SEC’s Crypto Task Force page and the CFTC’s digital assets information page are both worth bookmarking if you’re tracking how this framework gets implemented. Legislation like this moves in stages, and definitions in a bill draft can shift before final passage, so treat this as the current state of the text rather than settled law.
Educational only, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
