BlackRock Backs CLARITY Act as Tom Lee Predicts Programmable Money Revolution
BlackRock has publicly backed the CLARITY Act, a major piece of crypto legislation, while Tom Lee of Fundstrat and Bitmine predicts the bill will usher in a programmable money revolution.
Samara Cohen, BlackRock’s Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Market Development, called the measure an “important step toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets that puts investors first.” She said the bill would “help the United States shape the next era of market structure — supporting innovation while preserving the transparency, resilience and investor protections that keep the US the global leader in capital markets.”
Tom Lee, speaking on CNBC, argued that crypto is recovering because it is being embraced outside the United States, with Europe, Japan, and Russia passing similar bills. He believes that when the US passes the CLARITY Act, it will “supercharge the market, which will become the programmable software layer of money.” Lee added that crypto turns money into software, enabling loyalty points and reputation to behave like money, especially in the hands of AI agents — which he called one of crypto’s killer use cases.
The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 with strong bipartisan support and advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee on May 14, 2026. However, negotiations have stalled over an ethics and conflict-of-interest section barring the president and members of Congress from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. A merged Senate text released on July 22 incorporates these provisions.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on July 23 that he does not expect a floor vote before the summer recess, with ethics remaining the main sticking point. No floor vote is currently scheduled, making the practical deadline for 2026 passage before the Senate’s August recess around August 7. Missing it would likely push action into the post-midterm “lame-duck” period or into 2027.
Policy relations consultant Anne Kelley noted that procedural steps make finishing before recess “extremely difficult,” but added that “it does not mean CLARITY is done for the year.”
Opponents of the bill still seek more concessions. Tom Lee expressed hope that “anything could happen,” while listing major financial institutions supporting the act: Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Charles Schwab. He urged Congress to act and pass the bill.