Will the Clarity Act Trigger Crypto’s Next Bull Market?

**Colin McCune** (0:00)
Now all the big institutional investors, the big institutional money, all of the traditional financial players are all entering the space because it's green light. And we consistently hear that behind the scenes. We need the regulatory clarity. I think the most important thing that people miss about why clarity is so important is...

**John Gill** (0:21)
For years, the crypto industry has been asking for regulation and legislation, but will the Clarity Act finally pass? And what do you need to know if it does or if it doesn't? Hello and welcome to The Milk Road Show, the podcast that knows that spending more than two years in Congress will give you anything but clarity. I'm your host, John Gill, and today is Thursday, July 16th. And today we are joined by Colin McCune. Colin is the head of government affairs at Andreessen Horowitz, A16Z, where he oversees the firm's political and policy strategy, which must be quite a lot of fun. Prior to joining A16Z in 2022, Colin spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, most recently serving as the deputy staff director of the House Financial Services Committee, where he advised Chairman Patrick Henry and led major work on legislation around digital assets, stable coins, fintech and a lot of other things. Colin is going to give us an updated outlook on digital assets, laws and regulations, why it matters and if it's actually going to happen or not. So that sounds good to you. Make sure you like and subscribe, share this episode with somebody who's going to enjoy it. Today's episode is brought to you by Bitget Stocks 2 with real liquidity, real dividends and Securitize, the regulated rails for tokenization. And without further ado, welcome to The Milk Road Show. Colin, how are you, sir?

**Colin McCune** (1:35)
John, thank you very much for having me.
I am doing well. You know, in the famous words of Sheryl Crow, every day is a winding road, but things are positive.

**John Gill** (1:47)
That is quite an opening sentiment, so I appreciate you being so candid with that.
Colin, everyone has been saying the Clarity Act is dead. The president has called another meeting with senators today, I believe at the White House, if my understanding is correct on this, to try to get this bill passed and push this through. I'm really curious your thoughts on this. Is the bill sunk, or do you think President Trump is going to be able to actually finally get this through Congress? What's your updated outlook on the Clarity Act here?

**Colin McCune** (2:13)
Well, first and foremost, the bill has not sunk. I do believe that the Senate is going to move forward and vote in the near future, which I think is going to be a big moment.
But if I had a nickel for every time that I read a headline or someone else in the industry was telling me that the bill is dead, I think I would be a very, maybe not a rich man, but I'd be wealthier than I am today.
It has died and been brought back to life, it seems like a million times. So I will very firmly say the bill is not dead.
Does that guarantee that the bill is 100% going to happen? There are no guarantees in Washington, period. So I do think though that we're in very strong position. I think there is a really, really strong group of bipartisan members in the Senate and in the House. And certainly we know very well where the President stands on these issues. And I think everyone is still at the table and everyone's working to try and wrap this up, hopefully before the August recess in the next couple of weeks.

**John Gill** (3:14)
Okay, so the President has obviously, just like you said, been very vocal about his support here. He's also become one of the biggest sticking points for the bill. And the ethics considerations, it used to be the fight over stable coin yield. Now it's a fight over ethics provisions and the President's own activities in crypto. Do you think we're going to be able to get through that sticking point? And do you think that is the big hold up at this point?

**Colin McCune** (3:35)
I think, look, I think ethics is undoubtedly one of the things that I think needs to be addressed in the bill. I think there are a bipartisan group of members now that have made ethics one of the things that they feel like they need to see to be able to get to a yes vote. But it's not the only thing. And I think that there are a couple other issues that have been, I would say, gating functions for yes votes from Democrats that I think also need to be addressed. Certainly all of the headlines that gets captured are all around Trump and what he's doing and all these other things.