Ripple’s legal chief lobbies Democrats to keep CLARITY Act

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple Labs’ general counsel, has held a series of meetings with Democratic lawmakers and staff in Washington in recent weeks seeking to preserve the CLARITY Act’s current language as Congress considers how to regulate digital assets.

Alderoty has argued the bill would clarify which tokens are securities and which fall under commodities law, aiming to reduce legal uncertainty for exchanges, payment companies and blockchain startups. Ripple lobbyists highlighted potential benefits for cross-border payments and for firms that handle programmatic token distributions.

The outreach has included private meetings on Capitol Hill and briefings for staff who work on financial services and commerce issues. Ripple’s effort is part of a broader industry push in which several crypto firms and trade groups are urging lawmakers to keep regulatory definitions that distinguish token types and assign enforcement roles to different agencies.

Legislative aides say votes on competing digital-asset bills are likely to be closely contested. Some Democratic senators and staff remain undecided, citing questions about whether the CLARITY Act’s language sufficiently protects retail investors while providing clarity for innovators.

Company officials have cited the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2020 lawsuit against Ripple over sales of XRP as an example of the legal uncertainty the bill seeks to address. Parts of that litigation have illustrated disputes over whether particular tokens are securities, a point Alderoty and Ripple’s legal team reference when urging statutory definitions instead of relying on enforcement and court rulings.

Opponents of the CLARITY Act’s current provisions warn that broad carve-outs could weaken investor protections and shift oversight away from securities regulators. Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about how the bill would affect retail investors, how its definitions would apply to new token models and whether federal agencies would keep adequate tools to investigate fraud.

Industry sources say Ripple is asking Democratic offices to preserve clauses that define when a token is treated as a security and to retain mechanisms assigning primary jurisdiction in certain cases. Supporters contend those clauses would reduce lengthy court fights and provide predictable rules for capital formation; critics contend the same language could create regulatory gaps.

Congressional committees are expected to continue hearings and markups in coming weeks as lawmakers negotiate language across multiple proposals. If enough Democrats back preserving the CLARITY Act’s text as a negotiating baseline, proponents could fold the measure into a final digital-assets package. If key Democrats maintain their concerns, sponsors will likely revise the bill to build broader support before a Senate floor vote.