Kristin Smith, CEO of the Solana Institute, is pushing the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act with its open-source developer protections intact — and she says the next few weeks are make-or-break. The bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15–9 in May, with two Democrats joining Republicans, and has been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. A floor vote is expected later this summer, but Smith warns it needs to happen before the August recess. More than 60 crypto CEOs and founders — including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Coinbase, a16z crypto, Uniswap, Kraken, Paradigm, and Ledger — have signed an open letter backing the developer protections.
What the CLARITY Act covers
The bill carves out clear exemptions for open-source developers. Section 601 removes them from SEC registration requirements. The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), introduced in January by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, is folded in as Section 604. That means validators, non-custodial wallet providers, and software maintainers who don't control user funds won't be classified as financial intermediaries or money transmitters. It's a clean line: if you don't hold the keys, you're not a bank.
The Tornado Cash shadow
Without those explicit protections, open-source developers could face liability exposure similar to the prosecution of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. That case has rattled the crypto development community. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has argued — publicly — that publishing open-source blockchain code is a protected First Amendment activity and shouldn't create intermediary status. But the law hasn't caught up, and the CLARITY Act is designed to fix that.
The push for a vote
Smith described the coming weeks as make-or-securing a vote before the August recess. The timing isn't great — the Senate calendar is crowded, and crypto bills rarely get fast-tracked. But the 15-9 committee vote showed bipartisan support, and the letter from 60+ crypto CEOs gives the bill political cover. The floor vote will test whether that coalition can translate into law. No rhetorical questions — just a concrete deadline: before recess.
The Senate floor vote is expected later this summer, and Smith's coalition is working to lock it in before lawmakers leave for August. Without a vote, the protections stay in limbo — and developers remain exposed.
