Senator Wyden Wants Section 604 to Stay in the Clarity Act — Cops Mostly Shrug 🤷‍♂️

Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has asked Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer to keep the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act inside any floor version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, according to a letter reviewed by industry outlets. Wyden, who co-sponsored the standalone BRCA alongside Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, framed the request as a "commonsense clarification" that the Bank Secrecy Act and criminal code should be read together. The provision appears in the Clarity Act as Section 604, as passed by the Senate Banking Committee, and states that non-custodial software developers are not money transmitters solely because they create or publish code.

In the letter, Wyden argued the measure would unify FinCEN and Department of Justice policy, directing enforcement resources toward bad actors rather than neutral developers. "I strongly agree with my colleagues that any digital asset market structure legislation must include robust anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) guardrails to prevent digital assets from being misused by bad actors. While critics of the BRCA point to the purported impact of the provision on AML/CFT, this is inaccurate," the letter read. He described the language as a way for Congress to codify existing federal policy.

Section 604 has emerged as a central dispute in the broader Clarity Act negotiations, alongside the absence of ethics provisions addressing potential conflicts of interest. Law enforcement reaction to the language remains mixed. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives formally endorsed the bill earlier this month, becoming the first major law enforcement group to do so, while the Major County Sheriffs of America adopted a neutral stance on the Clarity Act after discussions with the administration regarding Section 604.

The bill requires Democratic support, including votes from Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Mark Warner, to clear the 60-vote Senate threshold. Whether recent softening of opposition translates into floor support is expected to become clearer when senators return from recess.