CLARITY Act Likely To Be Signed Into Law Before The End of April: Ripple CEO

Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, said there’s an 80% chance the US crypto market structure bill, known as the CLARITY Act, will be signed into law by the end of April.

Speaking on Mornings with Maria on Fox Business, Garlinghouse acknowledged his timeline is considered a little optimistic by some observers. However, the Ripple CEO said that the leadership on crypto coming out of the Whitehouse gives him confidence the CLARITY Act will become law sooner rather than later.

The US is pushing hard on this and I think this is a big reason why it will get done, it needs to get done for US leadership.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO

Garlinghouse added that “leadership from [crypto czar] David Sacks and Patrick Witt in the Whitehouse has been really critical around this.”

During his appearance, Garlinghouse revealed that Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, was due to meet with White House crypto leaders later that day to continue to push Ripple’s position — which is that compromise and progress are more important than perfection when it comes to legislation.

“Our position is very much don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress…our view is we need clarity,” Garlinghouse said. “The CLARITY Act needs to get done for the industry to thrive here in the United States.”

Following the meeting, Alderoty posted to X / Twitter saying that he and executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, Patrick Witt, had spent time during the meeting tweaking the wording in the legislation.

The odds of the CLARITY Act passing this year on Polymarket spiked yesterday from 60% to 90% following an interview with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, during which he said there had been “great progress” towards advancing the bill since negotiations began. 

During the same interview, Senator Bernie Moreno said the CLARITY Act would pass Congress “hopefully by April.” At the time of writing, the Polymarket odds had pulled back somewhat to 77%.

Related: Ripple CEO Says $1 Trillion Valuation Is Within Reach

TradFi Giants Now Embracing Crypto Regulation, Says Garlinghouse 

Garlinghouse said that there needs to be a level legislative playing field for “both sides,” referring to crypto-based businesses and traditional financial institutions. The CLARITY Act, according to Garlinghouse, can provide this fairness.

He said there’s now a growing recognition by larger TradFi institutions that comprehensive crypto legislation will allow them to compete more effectively with crypto-native businesses.

You’ve seen the CEO of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, come out kind of as an advocate for the CLARITY Act because Goldman Sachs wants that same level playing field to compete, potentially, with crypto companies.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO

Related: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Reveals Personal Bitcoin Stake Amid Shifting Crypto Stance

“That means the traditional finance industry is coming into the crypto industry more and more, and they want to make sure for them to compete they have those clear rules of the road…the tides have changed significantly,” he said.