Headline: CLARITY Act Earmarks $150M to Hunt Crypto Scammers as Congress Pushes for Clearer Rules
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has secured a $150 million funding line for law enforcement to pursue cryptocurrency scams and other digital asset crimes, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis announced on X on June 16. The allocation is embedded in the broader CLARITY Act—a market-structure bill aimed at establishing clearer federal rules for digital assets while bolstering tools for investigators and consumer protection.
What the funding and bill would do
- $150 million for law enforcement efforts aimed at tracking and prosecuting bad actors in the digital-asset space.
- Temporary transaction freezes: under the proposal, crypto exchanges and stablecoin issuers could freeze suspicious transactions for up to 30 days. Law enforcement could seek written orders to extend holds up to 180 days.
- Bank Secrecy Act alignment: digital-asset businesses would be brought under BSA-like obligations, required to implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) programs and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), similar to traditional financial institutions.
Proponents say these measures will make illicit funds easier to trace and give agencies faster legal mechanisms to respond to suspected fraud.
Regulatory clarity and protections
Beyond enforcement, the CLARITY Act takes on long-standing jurisdictional battles between federal regulators—primarily the SEC and CFTC—over token classification. The bill aims to draw clearer lines between digital commodities and securities and would require exchanges to segregate customer assets from company funds, a safeguard intended to reduce the risk of custodial failures like FTX.
Parallel enforcement efforts
The law enforcement funding announcement follows other congressional moves focused on crypto crime. Earlier this month, Representatives Lance Gooden and Josh Gottheimer introduced the Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Enforcement and Coordination Act, which would create a dedicated cryptocurrency theft task force inside the Department of Justice. That task force would coordinate investigations across DOJ, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security (including HSI), and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), with duties including tracing stolen assets, enhancing investigative techniques, supporting victims, and helping state, local, and international partners.
Momentum in Congress
Support for the CLARITY Act has grown after it passed out of the Senate Banking Committee on a 15–9 vote. With the congressional calendar tightening ahead of the election season, backers argue the U.S. needs a clear federal framework that both addresses criminal activity and gives legitimate digital-asset businesses regulatory certainty.
What’s next
The bill now heads to broader congressional consideration as lawmakers and industry stakeholders debate the balance between enforcement tools, regulatory clarity, and burdens on crypto firms.
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