Buying a coffee with an Amazon coin, or a car with a Tesla token. It sounds like science fiction, but what blocks it is not technology: it is not knowing who regulates that asset. That is what the CLARITY Act tries to settle.
Published on August 4, 2026 · by Alex · Crypto · Regulation · United States
Picture something as ordinary as buying a coffee and paying with a coin created by Amazon. Or by Apple. Or buying something far more expensive, like a car, using a token issued by Tesla.
It sounds like science fiction, but what blocks that scenario is not technology. It is a legal question without a clear answer: if a large company creates a digital asset, who regulates it? That is exactly what the CLARITY Act tries to settle.
For years that question had no single answer. In some cases the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates securities, stepped in. In others it was the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates commodities and their derivatives.
That uncertainty stalled a lot of projects. Not through prohibition, but through something simpler: no large company spends years and millions building something without knowing which rules it will operate under.
At first glance it looks like one more crypto bill. Its aim is broader: it defines when a digital asset can stop being treated as a security and move to a different regulatory framework, provided it meets certain requirements — among them, reaching a sufficient degree of decentralization.
| Before | With the CLARITY Act |
|---|---|
| No single test for whether a digital asset is a security | Defined criteria for when it stops being one |
| Unclear split of authority between SEC and CFTC | A more defined division of responsibilities |
| Projects stalled by legal uncertainty | A predictable framework for building digital assets |
What it does NOT mean. It does not mean thousands of new coins appear tomorrow, or that any company can issue a cryptocurrency without meeting rules. It means part of the uncertainty that existed until now goes away.
With clearer rules, the range of uses opens well beyond speculation:
There is also a piece that rarely gets mentioned: the bill would also bar public officials from issuing their own digital assets. In a field where conflicts of interest have been a recurring problem, that is not a minor detail.
Update as of August 20, 2026. When the video was published, the bill was expected to be voted on before the August recess. It did not happen: the Senate reached the August 7 recess without resolving it, with open points on illicit finance, agriculture and an ethics provision. On August 8 the first procedural stage of the vote was opened and the vote was pushed to September. If it does not advance then, the calendar pushes it past the midterm elections.
That is why what matters is not what the CLARITY Act allows today — today it allows nothing, because it is not law yet — but what it would enable if it passes.
If that framework advances, the debate will stop revolving around Bitcoin and Ethereum alone. The conversation will shift to how large companies fold digital assets into their own ecosystems. And that answer does not exist yet.
There is one consequence that goes well beyond payments: what would happen if those assets had to be backed by Treasury bonds. We work through it in this separate piece.
None of this is legal advice or an investment recommendation. See our legal notice.
A US bill that defines when a digital asset stops being treated as a security and moves to a different regulatory framework, provided it meets certain requirements — among them a sufficient degree of decentralization. It also draws a clearer line between the authority of the SEC and the CFTC.
Because no large company spends years and millions building something without knowing which rules it will operate under. For years the SEC stepped in some cases and the CFTC in others, and that uncertainty stalled projects — not through prohibition, but through the lack of a predictable framework.
No. It was expected to be voted on before the August 2026 legislative recess, and the Senate reached the August 7 recess without resolving it, with open points such as illicit financing. Until it passes, the split of authority stays exactly as it was.
This article is the written version of the Saturday analysis.
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