Not a single day passes by when there is no chatter around the CLARITY Act. And, this time the sentiment is positive. The National Sheriffs’ Association [NSA] dropped its opposition to the legislation.
Needless to say, the crypto community celebrated this milestone, with Senator Cynthia Lummis being the biggest cheerleader, who took to X and said,
Glad to see the National Sheriffs’ Association drop its opposition to the Clarity Act. We’ve built a bipartisan bill that gives law enforcement real tools to fight the illicit finance crimes hurting hardworking Americans.
She pressed,
It’s time to get the Clarity Act passed!
NSA’s shifting campaign
This follows the NSA submitting a letter on the 3rd of September to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. However, there is one caveat to this development, as the NSA has not directly shown any strong support for the bill.
Rather, they have just put an end to actively campaigning against the market structure bill, and they believe Congress should continue working through the legislation.
For context, the NSA’s original concern centered on provisions dealing with DeFi platforms, mixers, and blockchain software developers.
The organization feared that certain protections in the bill could make it harder for law enforcement to identify or prosecute people using crypto infrastructure for illegal activities.
In its earlier letters, the NSA argued that bad actors could exploit software, algorithms, and AI-based systems to move digital assets in ways that are difficult to trace.
Given that scammers defraud victims—often the elderly—of billions of dollars each year,1 it’s time to stand up for victims, potential victims, and law enforcement.
Is it full-blown support now?
The NSA particularly opposed Section 604. It believed the provision could grant overly broad protection from existing anti-money-laundering requirements.
However, its latest letter acknowledged the legislation’s complexity and ongoing negotiations. The organization now believes Congress should complete that process and create a clear regulatory framework.
The NSA put it best when they said,
At this time, we believe the most appropriate course is to step back and allow the legislative process to proceed to establish a clear, effective, and much needed regulatory framework.
Uncertainty remains
Yet despite this, the Polymarket odds on the CLARITY Act have dropped further from 18% to 14%, a 4-unit drop from yesterday.
However, this might be due to the House of Representatives assigning only one meaningful week of legislative session in September before the midterm elections.
AMBCrypto covered this development, noting that the House Republican leadership has canceled the previously scheduled voting weeks of 21st and 28th September.
As expected, this has now delayed the voting for the CLARITY Act.
Final Summary
- NSA submitted a letter to Senator Thune and Leader Schumer shifting its stance from critical to neutral.
- The dropping Polymarket odds are adding further uncertainty around the passage of the act in 2026.