Patrick McHenry Sees a Lame-Duck Window for CLARITY

CoinDesk's The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti open on a busy policy week from the UK's FCA opening its crypto firm authorization process to the SEC's new staff FAQ on crypto asset classification, and Robinhood's launch of AI agents that trade for retail customers. They then sit down with former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, who argues the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate because of election-year politics rather than substance and could still get done in the post-midterm lame duck, and weighs in on who should be accountable when an AI trading agent goes wrong and on the Supreme Court fight over sports prediction markets. Plus, Rebecca and Renato debrief on the SEC's shrinking commissioner ranks and name departing Commissioner Hester Peirce as their Person of the Week. - This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com. - Digital markets move fast. Move forward with clarity from S&P Global Ratings’ risk analysis spanning stablecoins, tokenized funds, digital bonds, DeFi protocols, and more. Explore digital asset solutions with S&P Global Ratings at https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/products/solutions/digital-assets?utm_campaign=Global-DA-Vaults&utm_source=digital-ads&utm_medium=link&utm_content=CoinDesk1 - Chapters/Timecodes: 00:00 Welcome to The Policy Protocol 01:56 UK's FCA Opens Crypto Authorizations 03:08 SEC's Crypto FAQ and the Buyback Rewrite 05:11 Robinhood's AI Agents and the Accountability Question 08:08 Chairman Patrick McHenry Joins the Show 08:47 Why CLARITY Stalled in the Senate 09:35 Can the Lame Duck Save Market Structure? 10:45 Narrow Crypto Bills vs. the Whole Enchilada 12:47 When an AI Agent Trades, Who's Liable? 14:27 Custody Rules and a Forward-Leaning SEC 15:26 Prediction Markets: Investing or Gambling? 16:26 CFTC Authority and the Supreme Court Fight 19:34 The Legacy of Commissioner Hester Peirce - #digitalfinance #finance #bitcoin Subscribe to CoinDesk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CoinDesk?sub_confirmation=1 CoinDesk is the leading digital media, events and information services company for the crypto asset and blockchain technology community. Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/coindesk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coindesk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coindesk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoinDesk Newsletters: https://www.coindesk.com/newsletters CoinDesk Podcast Network: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jyIhkvAQhed8AWDZiPpSP Public Keys: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rqYzRV10nfKfoTpFXZhTE Markets Daily Crypto Roundup: https://open.spotify.com/show/7sDXM8BlxsUqzL2IqmLqwE The Policy Protocol: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Fh8ffulAWcCqMu0uVuwoj