THE CLARITY ACT BOMBSHELL JUST DROPPED?!?! (IS THIS IT FOR XRP???)

[00:00:00][clears throat] >> Quick question before we get rolling.

[00:00:03]How much time do you actually think we've got left to push the Clarity Act over the finish line?

[00:00:09]Because insiders are starting to ring the alarm bell on exactly that. The fear is we might not have enough runway to move it through the whole process and get it signed into law.

[00:00:20]And if it doesn't happen now, then when?

[00:00:23]That's the real question hanging over all of this.

[00:00:27]We're also going to dig into regulatory clarity itself. And why it ends up helping the altcoins more than it helps Bitcoin.

[00:00:34]I'm talking your XRP, your XLM, that corner of the market. Anthony Scaramucci, and look, the man talks to a ton of senators and insiders. He's actually thrown out a date for when he thinks clarity starts moving.

[00:00:49]We'll grab some fresh updates from Senator Bill Hagerty, too, who was on Fox News today talking about this exact bill.

[00:00:56]And then there's Illinois.

[00:00:58]Governor Pritzker has made some genuinely terrible crypto decisions that are about to land on his entire state.

[00:01:05]Let's just pray it doesn't bleed into the rest of them.

[00:01:09]We're covering all of that and a whole lot more today. So, let's jump straight into the most important news first, then work our way down through everything else.

[00:01:17]>> about urgency, kind of a message to all of your listeners on the pod.

[00:01:22]We The window is closing.

[00:01:26]And if it closes without the passage of clarity, it is really hard to say when it might open back up.

[00:01:34]I'm a little more uh optimistic about Republicans' chances to hold the house than most prognosticators, but let's assume that they're right.

[00:01:43]If they're right, we will have uh and particularly if if uh Democrats also take the Senate, now you're dealing with Chairman Maxine Waters and Chairman Elizabeth Warren.

[00:01:53]You're dealing with uh an Ag Committee chairman uh in the house that we don't really know who it'll be but all of the finalists for that job voted against clarity.

[00:02:02]So we really need urgency.

[00:02:05]We really need to have all of our public and private messages to the Senate be that hey, the house did their job 1 year ago.

[00:02:13]Keep in mind 2 years before that we done fit 21.

[00:02:17]And we have got to close this out. We have got to close this out before August. Senator, we have to close this out. We need a constant drumbeat. And you know, I don't want to criticize Matt Hogan with Bitwise but maybe 10 days ago he said, well, the industry is going to do fine without without clarity. And technically that might be true.

[00:02:36]But from the long I mean we we're going to have another Gary Gensler villain at some point be the head >> Guys, we have got to get our act together and just get this thing done now.

[00:02:47]Here's why. It really doesn't look good if we land in a spot where the Democrats take the house and maybe not the Senate.

[00:02:55]Now, sure you might still squeeze something through if the Republicans are holding the Senate but even then it runs into trouble because the house has to turn around and reapprove whatever the Senate passes and there have already been so many changes made to it. So getting it across now in my mind that's easily the best case.

[00:03:15]Wait too long and we could be sitting here years down the road still waiting.

[00:03:20]Now, Scaramucci, like I said, Anthony Scaramucci talks to a lot of insiders.

[00:03:25]He's got the connections and this right here is what he believes is about to happen with clarity.

[00:03:33]>> Okay, so there's a lot First of all, it's a great question and I'm I got to qualify it a little bit because if you tell me the Clarity Act passes I'm [clears throat] going to say way, way less worried, right? Because now we've codified and you would have gotten bipartisan support to get it passed. So therefore I'm going to say way, way less worried. If you tell me the Clarity Act is not going to pass and you're going to put in a strident anti-crypto SEC chair, the opposite of Paul Atkins, I'm going to tell you that's going to be a problem for the industry. That'll create a headwind for the industry that's completely unfounded and completely unnecessary. But but again, I do believe even despite that Bitcoin will exceed Bit- Bitcoin will surpass or overcome that obstacle because it's just too strong of a technology. And I'll use the Uber example which I've sometimes used. You know, nobody guys wanted Uber. Nobody, nobody. I'm I'm four stories up from 50th and Madison. And I can't tell you the number of Ubers I've picked up from that corner that's right outside my office.

[00:04:38]But the taxi cab commission didn't want it, the mayor didn't want it, the taxi cab owners that own the medallions didn't want Uber. Nobody wanted Uber that was in power.

[00:04:50]But you know who wanted Uber? The people.

[00:04:53]People wanted Uber. And so that's why you got to look at these products and these technologies and say, "Hey, is it better?"

[00:05:01]And so even if the Democrats take power, even if we don't get the Clarity Act passed, is this technology better? If the answer to that is yes, and I believe it is, it will it will it will push through those obstacles.

[00:05:14]But I'm optimistic, you know, I'm greater than 50% the Clarity gets done before the end of July.

[00:05:19]>> All right, by the end of July. Love that. Okay, so I really wanted to roll this next clip for you because the moment I heard it, I thought it was great and I already know you're going to pull some value out of it, too. It runs 52 seconds and the whole idea is this.

[00:05:35]If the Clarity Act passes, it benefits the altcoins way more than it benefits Bitcoin.

[00:05:42]>> You mentioned the the Harvard move like an an expanding beyond Bitcoin. We think this is a very significant trend as well. Uh Bitcoin has been dominating the headlines, but if you look at all the advances, all the regulatory clarity we've seen, all the, you know, industry developments, they're all related to smart contract platforms, tokenization, stable coins, decentralized finance, and those things don't necessarily touch Bitcoin. They touch all the other assets. They touch the thesis for smart contract platforms, which you you don't capture by just getting exposure to Bitcoin. So, although we're very optimistic on Bitcoin, we think there's a great investment case for it as an emerging digital store of value. If you look beyond Bitcoin, this crypto crypto industry, we believe it's it's way bigger than just Bitcoin.

[00:06:23]That's why we believe so much in our approach of looking at the space in a diversified way using a high-quality index benchmark such as the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index.

[00:06:33]>> You have so many tens of millions of people investing in Bitcoin. If some of those people realize that regulation will happen in America, those people are going to be looking outside of Bitcoin to invest in.

[00:06:48]And when you have seven spot XRP ETFs in the United States alone, that's going to be a green light for institutional money.

[00:06:58]You're already seeing retail not sure what to do. Do I buy it? Do I sell? Do I try to get lower?

[00:07:06]Institutional investors are coming in and buying XRP. They're buying XRP more than they're buying Solana, more than they're buying Bitcoin, more than they're buying Ethereum right now, which is pretty crazy. You are going to light the temperature on the entire crypto market and all the stuff with utility will start to boil to the top.

[00:07:26]Everything else will just collapse here because all of the most important technologies have already been tested.

[00:07:32]They're already chosen. They're already agreed to. They're already being integrated. They're already ready to go.

[00:07:39]Everything else is just noise. Stellar, I'd imagine, will have ETFs before you know it. You're going to have ETFs growing on HBR and other assets. But, I'm telling you, like I'm focused on XRP. I'm focused on HBR. I'm focused on XLM, right? Chainlink is extremely important to all of this. Those are the assets that I think are going to be just you can't do this future infrastructure without it. Also, we can have a conversation about Quant, right? And maybe 10 other crypto assets, but that's where all of the money, I believe, is going to be focused on over the next 5 years. All right, Cody C, let's play it.

[00:08:21]>> The amount of institutional capital that I think is sitting on the sidelines saying, "We just need the Clarity Act to get passed, and then we're coming full throttle to compete with crypto." It's going to be pretty remarkable. The amount of uh different products that will be offered to US investors that have been contemplated or worked on or only offered overseas once the Clarity Act passes will be pretty remarkable.

[00:08:46]So, this market structure bill is really just setting the rules of the road, the foundational rules of the road of how can crypto interact with our financial markets? What are these tokens? How do you list these tokens? And who is the regulator making sure that you're following all the rules. 400 pages.

[00:09:05]There is a lot of work before it still needs to get done. Uh so, you mentioned you watched the >> vote last week.

[00:09:10]>> That was a procedural part of the process. It's This bill needs to pass through committee before it can go to the Senate floor. So, where we are today on May 21st, this bill needs to get full vote from the Senate.

[00:09:24]So, the Senate needs to pass this bill.

[00:09:26]It needs to get 60 votes, which means it needs to get both Republican and Democratic support because there's only 53 Republican >> Yep. And so, you need every Republican, and you need seven Democrats. Probably best to have at least 10 Democrats just in case there are some Republican senators that just don't believe in the asset class and don't care what their voters will say or do, right? Some people are stuck in their way, some people will not look at new technologies as innovation, some people get a lot of money from banks and institutions that would rather see crypto clarity go the way of the dodo, right? And so, we don't really know where all of this stuff is going to happen in all these votes.

[00:10:08]That's why they're going to have these procedural votes to make sure they have enough votes before they go for the full Senate vote. That was a lot of votes in a sentence. I do apologize. All right.

[00:10:18]Senator [clears throat] Bill Hagerty, what my genius act is doing for stablecoin innovation clarity will do for the broader digital asset market.

[00:10:28]Clarity will provide clear rules of the road needed to ensure digital asset innovation flourishes in America.

[00:10:35]>> where the Clarity Act is taking us. It's creating the type of certainty that's necessary to bring the entire digital asset framework into full-blown opportunity here in America. If you look back at the GENIUS Act that I authored, that brought America into the digital payments arena.

[00:10:52]We now are in a position where America will continue to lead as the reserve currency of the world because we now have a reserve digital dollar that's backed dollar-for-dollar by short-term US Treasury securities. As we move more broadly into the arena, digital assets have a much more, you know, varied use. We've dealt with it, I think, to a large extent. And I'm with Kevin Cramer, we need to get this done.

[00:11:14]It's important to get it done. It's critical to maintain America's innovation edge.

[00:11:18]From a process standpoint, I think he's likely right. This is something that will be more a matter of focus after the 4th of July recess period, but I certainly hope to see it done before before the end of July.

[00:11:29]>> All right, heck yeah. Love to hear it.

[00:11:31]Before the end of July, that date just keeps popping up over and over. So, that's the one I'm rolling with. Fingers crossed we actually get some movement here. Okay, now check this out.

[00:11:41]Illinois' Governor Pritzker has signed a 0.2 tax on crypto transactions into law, including transfers between personal wallets, with the Crypto Council for Innovation calling it the most punitive digital asset tax in the country.

[00:11:59]So, yeah, the day your crypto quietly starts disappearing and you happen to live in Illinois, you'll know exactly who to thank for it.

[00:12:09]Governor Pritzker and his, I don't even know, his genius plan, whatever you want to call it. Right, Illinois just passed a 0.02 privilege tax on digital asset activity, exchanges, transfers, custody, even wallet services, only for crypto, not for stocks or forex.

[00:12:30]This isn't smart regulation. It's fear-based policy that punishes innovation and tells serious crypto companies, liquidity providers, and builders to avoid Illinois entirely. You don't strengthen consumer protections by taxing every on-chain transaction into oblivion. You drive users, talent, and capital to other states and offshore venues.

[00:12:56]Yuck. And we've got even more reaction rolling in on this one.

[00:13:01]>> The amount of institutional capital that I think is sitting on the sidelines saying, "We just need the Clarity Act to get passed and then we're coming full throttle to compete with crypto." It's going to be pretty remarkable. The amount of uh different products that will be offered to US investors that have been contemplated or worked on or only offered overseas once the Clarity Act passes will be pretty remarkable.

[00:13:26]So, this market structure bill is really just setting the rules of the road, the foundational rules of the road of how can crypto interact with our financial markets? What are these tokens? How do you list these tokens? And who is the regulator making sure that you're following all the rules? 400 pages.

[00:13:45]There is a lot of work before it still needs to get done. Oh, you mentioned you watched the vote.

[00:13:51]That was a procedural part of the process. It's This bill needs to pass through committee before it can go to the Senate floor. So, where we are today on May 21st, this bill needs to get full vote from the Senate.

[00:14:04]So, the Senate needs to pass this bill.

[00:14:06]It needs to get the votes, which means it needs to get both Republican and Democratic support because there's only three Republican.

[00:14:13]>> So, where does innovation actually end up happening in the United States now?

[00:14:18]Everywhere except Illinois. That's where we're at.

[00:14:22]>> that where the Clarity Act is taking us.

[00:14:24]It's creating the type of certainty that's necessary to bring the entire digital asset framework into full-blown opportunity here in America. If you look back at the Genius Act that I authored, that brought America into the digital payments arena.

[00:14:39]We now are in a position where America will continue to lead as the reserve currency of the world because we now have a reserve digital dollar that's backed dollar for dollar by short-term US Treasury securities. As we move more broadly into the arena, digital assets have a much more you know, varied use. We've dealt with it I think to large extent, and I'm with Governor Cramer, we need to get this done. It's important to get it done.

[00:15:02]It's critical to maintain America's innovation edge.

[00:15:05]From a process standpoint, I think he's likely right. This is something that will be more a matter of focus after the 4th of July recess period, but I certainly hope to see it done before before the end of July.

[00:15:15]>> Good luck holding on to your best talent and your good businesses in Illinois after a move that ugly. Now, I also wanted to put this one in front of you.

[00:15:25]Trump-endorsed and crypto-backed candidate Representative Barry Moore has won the GOP primary runoff for Alabama's open Senate seat, defeating Jared Hudson. Fairshake spent $12 million in the race and provided the following statement after the victory.

[00:15:44]Our biggest spend of the cycle yielded yet another pro-innovation champion in the Senate. And with nearly 150 million cash on hand that we already will continue driving to the construction of the largest pro-crypto caucus in history.

[00:16:02]These guys are sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars. And that's one pack, just one, spending on pro-crypto candidates. So, if your big plan right now is building a campaign around being anti-crypto, around being against innovation, let me tell you how that goes. You get smothered. Learn the technology instead.

[00:16:26]Figure out why people care this much, why there's this much passion around the asset class, right? Don't run on fear.

[00:16:35]Actually go understand it. Because at the end of the day, that helps every single one of us. So, congrats to Fairshake on making this investment. I mean it. And I hope a whole lot more follows behind it. Here's CEO Brian Armstrong on clarity.

[00:16:53]>> My door is open whenever he is. You know, but I don't think it's necessary to get the actually the bill. At this point, the Senate has sort of told us told up both of us is like, "We're going forward in this direction, and you guys had to make a compromise. It hurt for both sides, but this is what we came up with, and then hopefully it'll be on the president's desk in the next few months." Clarity Act would be a really massive TAM expansion moment for Coinbase and actually all crypto. And so, we've been working hard with all parties there to see if we can help get something over the line. The Senate seems to be making great progress. As you know, it came out of the committees, most recently Senate Banking Committee with bipartisan support. It's already passed the house. So, my hope here is that in the next month or so, we'll get a Senate floor vote and then hopefully it'll be on the president's desk in the next few months.

[00:17:32]>> Man, all in on crypto. Where is it at?

[00:17:36]All in on crypto. All right, I'm going to leave it there, guys. There is always always so much to get into here. If you want a hand keeping up with everything moving in crypto and especially everything swirling around the Clarity Act, that's me. I'm your guy. I genuinely cannot get enough of this stuff. I'll always bring you the best and the brightest stories I can find.

[00:17:57]And yeah, sometimes those flip into the worst stories, but we still have to talk about them because if you live in Illinois, you need to know what's coming for you. And when you start watching some of your crypto just vanish into thin air, well, I don't know why. All right, guys.

[00:18:14]That's a wrap for today. Go enjoy your weekend, for real. If you liked this one, drop a like, leave me a comment. I genuinely read every single one of them.

[00:18:22]And hey, if you're somehow not subscribed yet, what are you waiting for? New crypto content every single day. I got you. See you tomorrow.