Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025

Purpose & Problem

Is the problem real and worth federal action?

The bill creates a shared system for the SEC and CFTC to oversee digital commodities, a type of digital asset tied to a blockchain network. It also blocks the Federal Reserve from creating or issuing a central bank digital currency.

Scope & Related Provisions

Does it stay focused, or carry unrelated add-ons?

The bill mostly stays on digital asset oversight, but it adds one unrelated provision: Section 315 cuts the Federal Reserve's discretionary surplus fund by $15 million, effective September 30, 2035.

Who Is Affected

Who benefits, and who bears the cost?

Digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers must register with the CFTC and meet new rules. Issuers of digital commodities must file disclosures with the SEC. Individual users keep the right to hold and transfer digital assets directly, without using an intermediary.

Cost & Funding

Is it affordable and responsibly funded?

The bill authorizes the CFTC to collect registration and annual fees from digital commodity firms, with fee amounts set in future appropriations acts. Section 315 reduces a Federal Reserve fund by $15 million in 2035. No CBO cost estimate appears in the source documents.

Risks & Implementation

What could go wrong in practice?

The bill requires the SEC and CFTC to jointly write many new rules within set deadlines, often 180 to 360 days. Coordinating two agencies on complex, novel definitions creates a practical risk that key rules could be delayed or inconsistent.

TITLE I--DEFINITIONS; RULEMAKING; EXPEDITED REGISTRATION

This title adds formal legal definitions for terms like blockchain, digital commodity, digital asset, and related roles such as digital commodity broker and dealer to existing federal securities and commodities laws. It requires the SEC and CFTC to jointly issue rules that further clarify these definitions and govern transactions involving both digital commodities and securities. It also protects the right of individuals to hold digital assets in personal wallets and make direct peer-to-peer transactions.

TITLE II--OFFERS AND SALES OF DIGITAL COMMODITIES

This title sets rules for how digital commodities can be offered and sold under U.S. securities laws. It creates a new exemption allowing issuers to sell digital commodity investment contracts without full securities registration, as long as they meet disclosure requirements, stay under a $50 million fundraising cap, and work toward building a decentralized blockchain system. It also defines when secondary sales by non-issuers are not treated as securities transactions, and sets conditions on when insiders can sell their holdings.

TITLE III--REGISTRATION FOR INTERMEDIARIES AT THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

This title changes how digital commodities and permitted payment stablecoins are treated under existing securities laws, making clear they are not classified as securities. It sets up rules for brokers, dealers, and trading platforms that handle these digital assets, including requirements for disclosures to customers, conflict-of-interest policies, and anti-fraud protections. It also allows banks and other financial institutions to custody digital assets and lets registered securities firms also register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

TITLE IV--REGISTRATION FOR DIGITAL COMMODITY INTERMEDIARIES AT THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

This title requires trading platforms that buy and sell digital commodities in cash or spot markets to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as digital commodity exchanges. It sets rules these exchanges must follow, including keeping customer funds separate, publishing trading data, preventing market manipulation, and maintaining financial reserves. It also clarifies that the CFTC has exclusive oversight over digital commodity spot transactions carried out on or through registered entities, while limiting CFTC authority over payment stablecoins.

TITLE V--INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS

This title sets up innovation offices at the SEC and CFTC to help financial technology companies understand the rules, and orders multiple studies by regulators and the GAO on topics like decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, blockchain payments, and foreign adversary involvement in digital asset markets. It also amends a separate stablecoin law called the GENIUS Act to update definitions, add certification and internal control requirements for stablecoin issuers, and protect individuals' right to hold and transfer digital assets using personal wallets. Reports on all the studies must be submitted to Congress within one year.

TITLE VI--ANTI-CBDC SURVEILLANCE STATE ACT

This title changes the Federal Reserve Act to block Federal Reserve banks from creating, testing, or issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in any form, directly or through banks and other middlemen. It also bars the Fed and the Federal Open Market Committee from using a CBDC as a tool for monetary policy. An exception is made for any dollar-based digital currency that is open, permissionless, and protects user privacy the same way physical cash does.