Launchy Regulatory Roundup #83 - Clarity Act Enters Critical Week

Yuga Labs, Ryder Ripps Settle NFT Suit

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Welcome to our 83rd edition of the regulatory roundup. If you know anybody who would benefit from this content, please help us spread the word!

In Today's Edition:

  • Headline: Clarity Act Enters Critical Week 👀 

  • Global Legal Roundup

  • Case Study: Yuga Labs, Ryder Ripps Settle NFT Suit 🐵 

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HEADLINE

Clarity Act Enters Critical Week

State of play: Stablecoin yield negotiations are reaching a breaking point as lawmakers return to Washington, with the Senate Banking Committee targeting a vote before month's end and key industry players finally lining up behind the bill.

  • A White House report found stablecoin yields would raise bank lending by just $2.1B (0.02% net), but banking groups rejected the analysis, insisting a yield ban is non-negotiable.

  • TD Cowen puts passage odds at one-in-three this year, warning the report may signal Trump wants full yield permissibility, which would kill the current compromise and push the bill to 2027.

  • Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly backed the Clarity Act for the first time, following Treasury Secretary Bessent's WSJ op-ed urging Congress to act, though no formal policy update has been issued.

  • Developer protections are emerging as the next flashpoint, with Trump crypto adviser Patrick Witt warning that criminalizing code would push innovation offshore.

  • Sen. Cynthia Lummis, not seeking re-election, warned this is the last shot at the Clarity Act until at least 2030.

What’s Next: The Senate Banking Committee votes before month's end, but a deal still hinges on banks accepting yield language, developer protections are the next fight after that.

Why it Matters: The Clarity Act sets the jurisdictional framework for the entire US crypto market; without it, the SEC/CFTC turf war continues and exchanges operate in legal limbo.

Our Take: Coinbase's endorsement is a pressure move, not a milestone, the real blocker is small banks, and no amount of White House economists or CEO posts will move them without an explicit yield ban or a political override from the top.

GLOBAL LEGAL ROUNDUP

America:

  • 🇺🇲 Crypto bill negotiations enter critical week.

  • 🇺🇲 SEC admits 'flaws' in past crypto enforcement.

  • 🇺🇲 Brian Armstrong backs Bessent's crypto bill push.

  • 🇺🇲 BA challenges Citadel over SEC's innovation exemption.

  • 🇺🇲 US Secret Service freezes $12M in crypto tied to global fraud.

  • 🇺🇲 Yuga Labs settles with Ryder Ripps in long-running trademark case.

  • 🇺🇲 US Treasury unveils proposed stablecoin rules targeting ML, sanctions.

  • 🇺🇲 DOJ rejects Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm's latest bid to dismiss charges.

  • 🇺🇲 DOJ, CFTC argue Kalshi's sports and event contracts are financial swaps.

  • 🇺🇲 White House stablecoin report unlikely to change hurdles for crypto bill.

  • 🇺🇲 Democrats press Selig on CFTC oversight of offshore prediction war bets.

  • 🇺🇲 FDIC proposes ruleset for stablecoin issuers following GENIUS enactment.

APAC:

  • 🇭🇰 HSBC & Anchorpoint Financial gain first HK stablecoin issuer licenses.

  • 🇰🇷 Bithumb turns to legal action to recover lost bitcoin in 'fat finger' incident.

  • 🇰🇷 S. Korea to bring RWAs and stablecoins under existing financial frameworks.

CASE STUDY

Yuga Labs, Ryder Ripps Settle NFT Suit

State of play: Yuga Labs and conceptual artist Ryder Ripps have settled a four-year trademark battle over a copycat Bored Ape collection, with Ripps now barred from using BAYC imagery going forward.

  • Yuga sued Ripps and partner Jeremy Cahen in 2022 after they launched RR/BAYC, a copycat collection Ripps claimed was protected "expressive appropriation art" under the First Amendment.

  • A US district judge ruled in Yuga's favor in 2023, ordering Ripps and Cahen to pay nearly $9M in profits, penalties, and fees, though the Ninth Circuit later vacated the penalty and sent the case to trial.

  • The Ninth Circuit's ruling that NFTs are protectable under trademark law stands as the key legal precedent to emerge from the case, regardless of the settlement's undisclosed terms.

Our Take: The First Amendment defense was always a long shot, and the settlement confirms it. The real outcome here isn't the ban, it's the Ninth Circuit cementing NFT trademark protectability, the precedent every major collection will lean on next time.

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