Solana Policy Institute Backs CLARITY Act, Sets Four Conditions for Senate Vote

The Solana Policy Institute is pressing the U.S. Senate to advance the CLARITY Act, but its president is drawing a hard line on what the final text must contain. Kristin Smith, who also serves as CEO of the Blockchain Association, outlined four conditions Tuesday that she says must be satisfied before the bill earns a full floor vote—putting $SOL's broader developer ecosystem squarely at the center of a consequential legislative fight.

Four Demands, One Deadline

Smith delivered her message via X and in a published letter co-signed by more than 60 CEOs and founders, all calling on the Senate to move the bill forward without stripping its developer protections. Her four priorities converge on a single argument: that clear rules protecting open-source contributors do not undermine enforcement—they sharpen it. Smith contends that when the law draws clean lines between participants who custody assets and those who merely write or maintain code, regulators and prosecutors can concentrate resources on parties actually responsible for wrongdoing.

The BRCA at the Center

Smith's most specific ask is that the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, known as the BRCA, remain intact inside the larger CLARITY Act framework. In her account, the BRCA is the mechanism that gives legal cover to noncontrolling software developers and infrastructure providers—people who publish open-source code that others download and use, but who do not hold funds, freeze accounts, or move money on users' behalf. Without that provision, she argued, the CLARITY Act would fall short of its stated purpose of giving builders confidence to operate in the United States.

Law Enforcement Alignment

Smith also pointed to a separate Blockchain Association letter released last week, signed by 160 former national security, intelligence, and law enforcement professionals. That group made a parallel case: that regulatory clarity functions as an enforcement advantage, not a loophole. The framing attempts to preempt the counterargument that strong developer protections create shelter for bad actors—a concern that has historically complicated crypto legislation on Capitol Hill.

What Passage Would Mean for Builders

Smith summarized the Institute's position around four goals: protect developers, target bad actors, preserve open-source innovation, and maintain U.S. leadership in the sector. Whether the Senate moves the CLARITY Act to a vote this year—the timeline Smith suggested is possible—will depend on whether those four conditions survive negotiation. For now, the industry's public posture is coordinated and conditional: support for the bill, contingent on the BRCA staying in it.