Gnosis founder: Clarity Act could give big finance control over crypto

Gnosis co-founder Dr. Friederike Ernst has warned that the Clarity Act risks handing control of the cryptocurrency sector to large financial institutions, Cointelegraph reported. She pointed out that the bill is currently designed with a structure that prioritizes centralized intermediaries. While acknowledging positive aspects, such as clarifying jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC and protecting peer-to-peer transactions and self-custody, Ernst argued that the legislation fails to sufficiently protect open, permissionless blockchain rails and DeFi protocols. This, she cautioned, could lead to importing the same points of failure from the traditional financial system into the crypto space. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has previously voiced his opposition to the bill, arguing that having no legislation is better than passing a bad one. Meanwhile, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, has stated that if the Clarity Act is not passed by April, its chances of becoming law this year are extremely low.