The Blockchain Association isn’t letting the National Sheriffs’ Association control the narrative on one of crypto’s most consequential pieces of legislation. In a letter sent August 3 to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the industry group pushed back against claims that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act would create dangerous regulatory gaps for law enforcement.
The rebuttal came just three days after the National Sheriffs’ Association fired off its own letter on July 31, warning that the bill, formally known as the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633), could undermine law enforcement’s ability to police financial crime in the crypto space.
What the sheriffs got wrong, according to crypto’s biggest lobby
The Blockchain Association’s core argument is straightforward: the sheriffs misread the bill. According to the BA, the CLARITY Act actually imposes rigorous Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions compliance requirements on digital asset intermediaries, including brokers and exchanges. The obligations are tied to whether an entity has control over user funds and transactions, a distinction the BA says the NSA overlooked.
The sheriffs’ concerns weren’t new. The NSA had previously raised alarms in a May 13 letter about potential exemptions for DeFi protocols and software developers, essentially arguing that bad actors could exploit decentralized platforms that fall outside the bill’s regulatory perimeter. Their July 31 follow-up doubled down on those worries.
