Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025
What does the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 do?
HR 3633 is a House bill sponsored by Rep. J. French Hill (R-AR). The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act creates a legal framework for digital commodities — digital assets whose value comes from blockchain use — by splitting oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. The CFTC gets exclusive authority over spot and cash markets for digital commodities traded on registered exchanges, while the SEC handles token offerings and regulates broker-dealers who trade digital assets on alternative trading systems. A separate Title VI, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, bars the Federal Reserve banks from offering products or services directly to individuals and from issuing a central bank digital currency, and bars the Federal Reserve from using a CBDC to conduct monetary policy.
Did HR 3633 pass? Where it stands
As of August 30, 2026, HR 3633 has passed the House.
Status: Passed House
Latest vote: House Passed 294–134 on July 17, 2025
Outlook: Uphill
Key provisions
- CFTC Gets Exclusive Spot Market Jurisdiction
- CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over spot and cash market transactions in digital commodities on registered entities or by entities required to register with the CFTC
- Any trading facility offering a cash or spot market in at least one digital commodity must register as a digital commodity exchange, unless it handles only de minimis trading or serves only a single state
- Digital commodity brokers and dealers must also register with the CFTC, which must adopt an expedited registration process within 180 days of enactment; once that process is adopted, operators must register (entering provisional status) or stop acting after a 90-day window
- Blockchain Maturity Determines Regulator
- Issuers may certify their blockchain as a mature blockchain system — not controlled by any person or group — to the SEC; certification takes effect 60 days after filing unless the SEC objects
- The SEC may stay a certification for up to an additional 120 days for novel or complex issues; rebutted certifications cannot be refiled for 90 days
- Token issuers with blockchains not yet mature may raise up to $50M in a 12-month period under an SEC exemption, provided the blockchain is on track to mature within four years of first sale and no single purchaser acquires more than 10% of outstanding units
- Insider Resale Restrictions Before Maturity
- Related persons (1%+ holders, promoters, senior employees within prior 6 months) and affiliated persons (5%+ holders, founders, directors within prior 12 months) face resale limits before blockchain maturity
- Insiders must hold units at least 12 months from delivery before selling; the per-12-month resale cap is set by SEC rule at no less than 5% and no more than 20% of units acquired directly from the issuer
- Total insider sales prior to maturity certification are capped by SEC rule at no less than 30% and no more than 50% of units acquired directly from the issuer
- DeFi Activities Exempt from Registration
- Operating a node or oracle service, providing a read-only blockchain user interface, developing or distributing a blockchain system or a decentralized-finance trading protocol, operating or participating in a liquidity pool, and developing or distributing non-custodial wallet software are all exempt from SEC registration
- A parallel CFTC exemption under Title IV covers the same six categories of decentralized finance activity
- Anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority of both the SEC and CFTC still applies to exempt decentralized finance activities
- Anti-CBDC Prohibitions Added (Title VI)
- Federal Reserve banks may not offer financial products or services directly to an individual or maintain an account on behalf of an individual
- The Federal Reserve may not issue a central bank digital currency directly, or indirectly through a financial institution or other intermediary, and the Board of Governors may not test, study, develop, create, or implement one
- The Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee may not use a central bank digital currency to implement monetary policy
Last updated August 12, 2026