Perkins: U.S. Crypto Will Be Fine Without CLARITY Act

Chris Perkins, chief executive of 250 Digital Asset Management, told a podcast interview on Friday that U.S. crypto markets would be “just fine” if the CLARITY Act does not pass, pointing to rulemaking by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission.

Perkins pointed to ongoing work by SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig and to a joint interpretation issued in March that addressed how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. He described those agency actions as creating policy and precedent that provide clearer rules for the market.

He contrasted the current approach with the period under former SEC leadership when tokens labeled as securities often faced enforcement actions and delistings from major platforms, leaving projects with limited compliance options. “In the past, being a security was a ‘death sentence’; there was nowhere to go with it… now it is awesome to be a security,” Perkins noted.

Perkins also said that passing the CLARITY Act would lock in regulatory treatment for a longer period because laws are harder to reverse than agency guidance. “What you’ve done is you’ve essentially enshrined policy for a very long time,” he added.

Lawmakers recently published a final text of the CLARITY Act that includes provisions on stablecoin yields. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks released that version. Industry executives have urged quick action, and some senators, including Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, have signaled expectations that work on the bill could conclude soon.

Perkins framed the bill as useful for codifying rules but said it is not the only path to regulatory clarity. He argued that the SEC and CFTC rulemaking underway is already producing a taxonomy and stability that market participants can follow.

Under the prior SEC chair, many tokens classified as securities faced enforcement and removal from trading venues. The recent joint guidance by the SEC and CFTC aims to clarify which crypto assets fall under securities laws and which are treated as commodities or derivatives, a distinction that affects registration, trading venues and investor protections.