- White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt urged the parties at the CLARITY Act negotiation table to be open to compromise.
- He advised them to take advantage of the presently favorable political climate for crypto in the US.
The hot debate centering on the stalled crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, continues. Even leaders in the digital assets sector, particularly Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, are divided over the matter.
Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets in the White House, has recently dived into the discussion. Like Garlinghouse, he urged crypto industry stakeholders to adopt a pragmatic approach to the issue to get things moving.
White House Crypto Advisor Says Compromises Have to Be Made
Witt criticized the stance of the opposition led by Armstrong, who said, “No bill is better than a bad bill.” He stated that such a privilege exists now because of the pro-crypto administration of US President Donald Trump.
However, the White House official reminded them that a multi-trillion-dollar industry cannot operate indefinitely without a comprehensive regulatory framework. It would be a “fantasy” to think of it that way. Hence, there will be a crypto market structure bill sooner or later. He claimed, “It’s a question of when, not if.”
Given the eventuality, Witt proposed that the parties at the negotiating table, particularly representatives of the digital assets sector, take advantage of the situation where there’s a crypto-friendly president, majority support in Congress, supportive regulators, and a healthy industry. He explained that passing up the opportunity now could open the door for anti-crypto Democratic Party lawmakers to craft “punitive legislation” in the future.
Unpredictable Numbers Game for CLARITY Act After Midterms
Witt admitted that the present form of the CLARITY Act is imperfect. Nonetheless, he assured that a Democrat-influenced version would be worse.
The White House advisor’s warning comes amid the upcoming midterm elections in November this year. All House seats will be at stake, while 35 of the 100 Senate seats will be up for grabs.
The ongoing congressional redistricting complicates predictions of the event’s results. The latest surveys of 270toWin indicate either a close fight between the Democrats and Republicans in the House, with the former gaining a slight edge in some instances.
Witt emphasized that politics is all about the numbers game, so compromises have to be made to get the 60 votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate.
