Cody Carbone, chief executive of The Digital Chamber, testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday pressing for passage of the CLARITY Act, arguing the crypto market-structure bill is a prerequisite for reducing financial costs that fall hardest on lower-income households.
In written testimony submitted to the committee, Carbone argued that blockchain-based rails can lower costs across three areas: cross-border remittances, everyday merchant payments, and asset ownership and transfer. The hearing, titled "The Affordability Agenda," came weeks after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act on a 15-9 bipartisan vote on May 14, and with no Senate floor vote yet scheduled.
The testimony grounded the CLARITY Act argument in federal data. Carbone cited a May 2026 Federal Reserve report showing only 63 percent of adults could cover a hypothetical $400 emergency expense from cash or savings. He also cited FDIC data that 4.2 percent of U.S. households were unbanked in 2023 and another 14.2 percent underbanked, pointing to those groups as the ones most exposed to high-cost financial services.
On remittances, Carbone referenced World Bank data showing the global average cost of sending money abroad was 6.36 percent, more than double the 3 percent international target.
