AAVE’s Stani Kulechov calls CLARITY Act a big deal for DeFi

Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of the Aave protocol, is making the case that the CLARITY Act represents a watershed moment for decentralized finance. His argument is straightforward: the same way the GENIUS Act gave stablecoin issuers a federal playbook, this legislation would give DeFi protocols one too. The timing isn’t coincidental. A 635-page draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act dropped on September 14, 2026, just one day before a scheduled cloture vote in the Senate. After more than a year of lobbying in Washington, Aave’s leadership clearly sees the finish line. What the CLARITY Act actually does The bill’s ambition is to create a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for digital asset markets, with particular attention to DeFi operations. Kulechov has zeroed in on a few provisions he considers especially important. Section 401 of the bill would authorize banks to provide digital asset services including custody, staking, and lending. There’s also the safe harbor provision from money transmitter regulations, embedded through the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act component of the legislation. The bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee with a 15-9 vote. ...