Mark Esper, former Secretary of Defense under Trump, published an op-ed in the Financial Times on August 7 framing the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) as a national security issue rather than merely a financial markets matter. The bill proposes categorizing digital assets into three buckets (securities under the SEC, digital commodities under the CFTC, stablecoins under the GENIUS Act) and extending anti-money-laundering obligations to digital asset brokers. Esper argues that North Korea’s Lazarus Group and China are exploiting cryptocurrencies to fund weapons programs and espionage operations. The House passed the bill 294-134 in July 2025, with a Senate procedural vote scheduled for September 15, 2026. Coinbase stock surged 9% when the Senate Banking Committee advanced the legislation in May 2026.
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