[CLARITY Act's Removal of Section 604 Could Subject Non-Custodial Developers to Bank Secrecy Act Regulations] Odaily Planet Daily News: One year after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), the bill remains stalled in the Senate, facing opposition from the banking industry and partisan divisions. Supporters anticipate that the Senate may vote on it before the August recess. Industry organizations Coin Center and Blockchain Association have identified Section 604 as a critical provision for protecting open-source innovation. This section aims to prevent non-custodial blockchain developers, node operators, and validators from being classified as federal money transmitters. Stefan Muehlbauer, Head of U.S. Government Affairs at CertiK, stated that removing Section 604 could conflate software development with financial services, subjecting developers to the Bank Secrecy Act and potentially triggering constitutional challenges related to the First Amendment. Openpayd CEO Iana Dimitrova noted that the expanded use of stablecoins for cross-border value transfers underscores the need for a clear federal regulatory framework. The bill also addresses accounting standards, acknowledging that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin SAB 121 has been rescinded and prohibiting the SEC from reimposing equivalent crypto custody accounting requirements without a full notice-and-comment process. Gomining CEO Mark Zalan remarked that Bitcoin still faces regulatory gaps, such as those related to tax treatment.