Blockchain Association Responds to NSA Concerns Over CLARITY Act, Emphasizes $3 Billion Law Enforcement Funding
The Blockchain Association responded to the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) concerns regarding the CLARITY Act, pointing out that the bill includes $3 billion in law enforcement funding to support state and local law enforcement agencies.
The bill allocates $1 billion for fiscal year 2026, $1 billion for fiscal year 2027, and $1 billion for fiscal year 2028 to enhance the investigative capabilities of state and local law enforcement agencies against digital asset crimes, including training, technical tools, and inter-agency collaboration.
The Blockchain Association emphasized that the bill does not alter existing anti-money laundering (AML) and criminal enforcement authorities, but rather enhances law enforcement capabilities: it requires trading platforms to strengthen KYC/AML compliance, expands FinCEN information-sharing authority, and establishes a digital asset tracking tool repository.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
The Blockchain Association's response is not an isolated PR move, but a continuation of the "divergence strategy" since June 2026: the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) publicly supported the CLARITY Act on June 29, creating "internal divisions within law enforcement" and weakening the NSA's narrative of "unified opposition."
Similar cases can be compared to the lobbying failure of the 2023 Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA)—which lacked law enforcement support and faced opposition from the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury; the 2026 CLARITY Act successfully garnered endorsements from some law enforcement agencies through a dual commitment of "$3 billion funding + no weakening of existing authorities," reflecting the maturity of the crypto industry's lobbying strategy: shifting from "confronting regulation" to "funding regulation."
On the capital path, the Blockchain Association chose a dual-track strategy of "funding support + authority retention": on one hand, directly meeting law enforcement budget needs with $3 billion in funding, and on the other hand, clearly stating that it "does not change existing criminal enforcement authorities" (such as anti-money laundering and unlicensed money transmission offenses), alleviating core concerns of the DOJ and Treasury, forming a compromise framework of "law enforcement gets funding, industry gets certainty."
Essentially, this represents an "interest exchange" in regulatory changes: the crypto industry exchanges "funding support + compliance enhancement" for "regulatory certainty," driven by law enforcement's anxiety over "insufficient investigative capabilities against crypto crimes" (with on-chain crimes exceeding $200 billion in 2025) outweighing concerns over "regulatory loosening," with the industry providing "resources + tools" rather than "confrontation."
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
Regulation is not confrontation, but funding
When law enforcement lacks money, opposition turns into support
The truth of lobbying: it is not persuasion, but exchange