President Trump is expected to host a major meeting at the White House with crypto executives, trapped by leaders, as well as federal regulators with the much anticipated Clarity Act failing to secure a Senate vote before the August recess.
Many do you believe the administration is preparing to move ahead through agency coordination rather than just waiting for Congress.
Well the high profile gathering is expected to bring together.
Crypto plus the chairs of both the SEC and the CFTC will joining us this morning to discuss the regulatory landscape and what this means for blockchain innovation is John's associate general counsel for product and regulatory slabs.
Good morning, John.
Thank you.
So much for joining us.
Well, here we are in mid August and we're counting down to September, but with clarity pushed further down the road, the White House seems ready to advance digital asset policy through agency coordination.
But what is your overall outlook for the industry right now?
Yeah, and Remy, thanks so much for having me on.
Um, and I think first it, it, it really makes sense to just talk briefly about where clarity is today.
And you know, as you mentioned, um, there is a procedural vote for the bill in September, mid-September, and it's the first day that they, the Senate returns from their August recess, recess.
And, uh, unlike in the House, the Senate does need 60 votes or 3/5 to be able to advance the bill.
And that procedural vote is really an opening to allow consideration of the bill and, and not a final passage itself.
And it is really hard to prognosticate what the prospects of the bill are at this time, but I think regardless of what happens in September, the underlying issues at play here are critical and critical for the industry, and I think critical for our country.
Um, this is a market that's over $2 trillion and an industry that's been advocating for clear guidance from Washington for a number of years.
Um, to that end, here at Aptos Labs, our CEO and co-founder Avery Ching had the opportunity to testify in support of market structure, legislation and the importance of it, uh, last summer in front of the House Agriculture Committee.
And I think regardless of the outcomes, you know, we're looking forward to engaging both with stakeholders and policymakers and regulators, you know, to advance, you know, clear guidance for, for the industry regardless of kind of what shape that comes in.
And John, as you mentioned, we are all looking for more clarity regarding the Clarity Act, but a major concern during these high level regulatory discussions as we await more clarity is the protection of open source builders.
So as the nation's capital weighs the next phase of regulation, what do you think needs to be done when it comes to ensuring that developers' rights to write as well as publish code are fully protected?
Yeah, thanks.
That's a great question and a really important topic.
I think, you know, it starts with the recognition that developing decentralized technology and building these decentralized protocols is, um, you know, fundamentally different from the type of activity that's traditionally fallen under the purview of, of financial regulators.
And that's especially true when developing. don't have control or custody over a user's assets, and clarity does recognize that distinction and the version of, of clarity that passed the House recognized that distinction and, and provided protections for developers that kind of fit within those guidelines.
And I should mention passed with, with massive bipartisan support.
Um, and so, America really has a strong track record of fostering a welcome environment for innovators and, um, businesses that are building with the cutting edge of technology, especially when the regulatory landscape can, you know, not be set, and And blockchain is a field where the US can really uh continue that trend and build on its success of, of fostering this environment for innovators.
And that's especially true if, if developers can have clear guidelines about what is and what is not regulated activity.
And, you know, I should also just mention that These developer protections are not about loosening oversight or or lessening regulation.
It's really about drawing sensible lines so that builders know where the lines are, and so they can really focus on the importance of building technology and growing the economy, instead of, you know, worrying about legal uncertainty or what their future looks like.
Yes, and John, you mentioned that word build or building, so I just want to build on what you just said.
And one of the major debates right now is in regards to non-custodial developers, those who build or maintain blockchain software but never actually control user funds.
So why do you think this distinction is so important, and this is a how question here.
So how should policy treat those who write the infra versus those who actually custody the assets?
Yeah, and I think, you know, the bill does a good job of drawing those distinctions now.
It has extensive, you know, regulatory framework for those centralized exchanges that do take custody, custody or control over users' assets.
And those entities are already regulated under state money laundering uh transmitter laws.
Um, and so, distinguishing between those centralized entities that, that look and feel more like a traditional bank or brokerage.
And developers that are deploying decentralized technology, where they don't have access or control over users' funds, and making clear that one is regulated activity, and, and the other is not.
And I think, you know, the current version of the bill does, you know, make that distinction.
The bill that that passed the House also makes that distinction, and, and it's an important one for, for the technology to really flourish here in the US.
And John, it is hard to believe, but we are well into the second half of 2026, and we know that speed and performance do remain important and crucial for institutional adoption here in the US.
So beyond throughput, how do you regulated financial institutions out there balance both compliance as well as confidentiality with the transparent nature of public ledgers?
Can you break all of this down for the layperson who's watching?
Yeah, that's, um, I'll do my best.
There's a lot to, to tackle there, but, um, I think, you know, we've, you know, even without clarity or, or a comprehensive federal framework, we've seen a lot of adoption.
Of blockchain technology by institutions, especially, you know, Aptos blockchain is one of the more high, high-performing, um, blockchains out there, and we've seen, uh, regulated institutions like BlackRock, Apollo, Franklin Templeton launch regulated money market and other types of funds on the blockchain.
And I think it's really having the tools available to um to these institutions that, you know, may have their own regulatory obligations or, you know, compliance needs to be able to, to meet their needs, right?
And so there's There's a number of ways that blockchains and the technology can serve those.
One is obviously by being secure, by being scalable, and by being fast, which is all things that that Aptos offers uh to participants.
And then another, you know, there we are seeing a an emerging recognition that these enterprises need uh some of the same tools that they that they have in the Uh, more traditional finance sector, whether that's keeping, um, payees, uh, identities or the amounts of transactions, uh, confidential.
And so there's a number of, of blockchain solutions that offer this kind of, uh, these compliant or, uh, uh, confidentiality features that allow entities to, to remain compliant, and APTOS is one of those entities.
Yeah, and finally, John, before I let you go, from your vantage point, what do you think is the most significant regulatory hurdle preventing some of the traditional institutions from fully adopting blockchain infrastructure?
Yeah, I think we're seeing it.
Um, we've seen a lot of adoption and growth, and we're seeing this convergence between, you know, traditional finance and decentralized technology.
I think we're there.
I think what could really accelerate it is kind of clear guidelines, whether it's legislative or, or regulatory, and, and we've seen a lot of regulatory action in the last 18 months.
And my guess is we'll continue to see efforts on legislation and Um, and regulatory, uh, movement.
And so, I think those, those institutions that are maybe more risk averse or, you know, or are regulated, do need those signals from policymakers and, and stakeholders in DC to really take that next leap forward.
Yeah, and before I let you go, I do want to ask you another question about innovation.
We all know that prediction markets, as well as crypto have become major flashpoints this year and in the nation's capital, there's also been a clear divide on how these Technologies should be overseen.
So how can the industry best collaborate with the new innovation advisory Committee as well as federal regulators in order to build an actual framework that scales trust without stifling innovation?
Yeah, and I think, you know, the CFTC has done a really nice job both um.
Creating this new innovation advisory council, um, and then existing, uh, advisory councils.
Uh, our CEO serves on the CFTC's GMAC, which is the Global Markets Advisory Council's Digital Asset Market Subcommittee, and these groups are really a great opportunity for, um, You know, participants from both uh blockchain and other innovate, you know, prediction markets, but also traditional financial uh service providers and regulated institutions to come together and more informally, uh, talk through some, some of these important regulatory issues and, and, you know, we're all, I think, excited to see what comes out of that meeting tomorrow, uh, in, in, in Washington.
Well, John, we will have to leave it there for today, but as we count down to the September, uh, date, mid-September, there's a lot to, uh, digest as well as breakdown.
So I appreciate your time today.
Thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for sharing all of your insights.
Really enjoyed it.
Thanks again.
