Kristin Smith, President of the Solana Policy Institute and CEO at the Blockchain Association, urged the US Senate to pass the anticipated CLARITY Act on Tuesday, while emphasizing four specific priorities she said must be addressed before the bill receives a full vote.
Protect Developers, Target Bad Actors
Speaking on social media site X (formerly Twitter), Smith framed the legislation as a chance to strengthen legal clarity around how public blockchains operate—particularly for the developers and infrastructure providers who build and maintain the open-source systems.
In a letter published on Tuesday, signed by more than 60 leading CEOs and founders, the industry calls on the Senate to move forward with the CLARITY Act while preserving what Smith described as robust developer protections.
According to Smith, Protecting developers sits at the center of Solana Institute’s mission. She said public blockchains depend on open-source contributors who write, maintain, and improve the code that runs them.
Because these engineers typically publish software that can be downloaded and used by anyone, she argued that they do not directly hold money, do not have the ability to freeze accounts, and do not move funds.
Smith also argued that strong developer protections do not weaken enforcement. Instead, she said that through the potential passage of the CLARITY Act, they could make enforcement more effective by creating clearer lines between different participants in the market.
When the law clearly distinguishes between intermediaries that custody assets or control transactions, bad actors, regulators, and prosecutors can focus their attention on the parties she described as actually responsible for illicit conduct—such as those custodying funds, operating platforms, or facilitating wrongdoing.
CLARITY Act With BRCA Intact
In her message, Smith pointed specifically to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) as a key element of that approach. Smith said the BRCA provides legal certainty for noncontrolling software developers and infrastructure providers who do not custodian assets or control user transactions.
Smith also referenced a separate letter released by the Blockchain Association, saying that last week, 160 former national security, intelligence, and law enforcement professionals made a similar argument: that “clarity is an enforcement advantage.”
In her account, clearer rules help keep legitimate activity onshore and provide prosecutors with better tools to target bad actors, rather than creating uncertainty that discourages compliant development.
In Smith’s view, the core objective is not simply to pass a bill, but to ensure it leads to meaningful certainty for builders. She warned that if developer protections are weakened, the broader CLARITY Act could fall short of one of its most important goals—giving responsible builders confidence to work in the United States.
Smith concluded that the Senate should pass the CLARITY Act with the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act intact. She summarized her position as a straightforward set of goals: protect developers, target bad actors, preserve open-source innovation, and maintain US leadership in the crypto sector.
Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com
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