Cynthia Lummis publicly rebuked former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried after he praised the proposed Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, warning that the legislation would impose harsher penalties on him and rejecting any association with his past lobbying efforts.
Lummis said her Senate version of the Clarity Act differs fundamentally from the 2022 framework she accused Bankman-Fried of attempting to influence, adding that under the updated bill penalties tied to his misconduct would extend well beyond 25 years.
Bankman-Fried had described the Clarity Act as a “huge milestone for crypto” and claimed he previously supported similar efforts to shift regulatory authority away from former SEC chair Gary Gensler, comments Lummis dismissed as mischaracterising her work.
The Wyoming senator emphasised that she neither needs nor wants his endorsement, reinforcing her longstanding criticism of the disgraced executive, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence following fraud and conspiracy convictions tied to the collapse of FTX.
The Clarity Act advanced out of the House in July 2025 before moving to the Senate, where Lummis has worked to align it with her Responsible Financial Innovation Act and expand its enforcement provisions.
Alongside Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott, she released a 278-page draft in early 2026 that includes defined bad actor provisions, enhanced anti-fraud authorities, mandatory disclosures, proof-of-reserves requirements and clearer jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Lummis has sharply distinguished the revised framework from the 2022 Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act backed by Bankman-Fried, arguing that the new bill strengthens oversight of centralised exchanges while addressing regulatory gaps that have fuelled past industry collapses.