Mixed assessments have emerged over the U.S. Senate’s proposed CLARITY bill, with praise that it would boost regulatory clarity and concerns it could create new risks for the financial system.

On Aug. 5 local time, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that the Wall Street Journal editorial board argued in an editorial the previous day that the CLARITY bill could help resolve uncertainty in digital asset regulation, but that some provisions need changes.

The editorial board said the cryptocurrency industry has long operated in a regulatory grey area. It viewed positively the bill’s move to more clearly separate the jurisdictions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It said this could provide legal certainty to companies, investors and financial institutions and could also help expand the market for tokenized securities.

It said stablecoins and anti-money laundering (AML) rules need strengthening. The board raised concern that the bill would allow exchanges to provide various rewards to stablecoin holders while banning stablecoin issuers from paying interest, potentially bypassing the intent of the GENIUS bill. It said this structure could create an incentive to move deposit funds from traditional banks into the crypto ecosystem.

It also cited as a problem a provision that would exempt parts of decentralized networks from AML and know-your-customer (KYC) obligations. It said such exceptions could leave room for abuse to move illicit funds. The editorial board urged lawmakers to tighten the provisions before the bill is sent to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The industry responded immediately. Neeraj Agrawal (니라즈 아그라왈), chief executive of the DeFi Education Fund, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "This is completely wrong. There is no operator. That is the point," and argued the editorial misunderstands the structure of decentralized networks.

Ji Kim (지 킴), CEO of the Blockchain Association, also criticised the editorial as "full of factual and legal errors" and said he would present a detailed rebuttal. SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci called the criticism "a last-minute attempt by banks to delay," suggesting possible lobbying by traditional finance.

The debate has surfaced as U.S. Senate Republicans push to pass the Crypto Clarity bill before the August recess. As questions rise not only over whether the bill will pass but also over how far it should define stablecoin reward structures and AML obligations for decentralized networks, discussion is expected to continue over the balance between regulatory clarity and financial stability.