U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has publicly defended the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) against criticism that it fails to adequately protect decentralized finance (DeFi) developers from legal prosecution. In a statement on March 27, 2026, Lummis pushed back on claims from crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky, asserting that recent bipartisan revisions to Title 3 of the bill make it the "strongest protection for DeFi and developers ever enacted." She urged supporters to "Don't believe the FUD" and emphasized the necessity of passing the act to secure these protections.
The core of the dispute centers on the bill's definition of money transmitters. Chervinsky argues that the language in Title 3 remains broad enough to potentially classify non-custodial software developers—those who do not control user funds—as money transmitters. This classification would subject them to Bank Secrecy Act know-your-customer (KYC) obligations and associated legal risks. He contends this undermines the protections offered by Section 604, which incorporates the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) to shield such developers from being treated as financial institutions.
The debate has gained urgency following the August 2025 conviction of Roman Storm, co-founder of the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. This case has heightened fears within the developer community about regulatory overreach.
While the CLARITY Act is gaining momentum and is scheduled for a Senate Banking Committee review in April, the specific text of the latest revisions referenced by Senator Lummis has not been made public. Chervinsky has noted that recent Washington debate has been overshadowed by provisions concerning stablecoin yield and rewards, leaving the critical developer protection issue unresolved in the public eye.
