Banks want certainty before tokenizing assets, and the CLARITY Act could help, Chainlink exec says

The head of institutional development at Chainlink Labs says outdated 1930s-era financial laws are the primary bottleneck keeping big money out of tokenized assets.

Andrew McCormick, Chainlink’s Head of Institutional and Market Development, said the CLARITY Act would replace years of regulatory uncertainty with a dedicated legal framework for digital assets, making it easier for banks and asset managers to invest in tokenization.

“Large banks, asset managers love certainty because you don’t want to devote time, people, money, resources, attention, energy to something that you don’t know,” McCormick said, speaking during a fireside chat at ETHConf 2026.

He said large financial institutions value predictable rules because product development requires substantial long-term commitments of capital and personnel.

Until now, firms have had to navigate outdated securities laws, decades-old court precedents and changing regulatory interpretations, whereas the proposed legislation is designed specifically to address the digital asset industry.

While the legislation would not eliminate every legal or compliance challenge, it would replace much of the uncertainty that has forced firms to rely on outdated securities laws, he noted.

“It’s not going to instantly answer every question… there’s still going to be tough questions, but it’s very different having a statute purposely designed for this use case rather than trying to jam this use case into something from 90 years ago,” he added.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

“Large banks, asset managers love certainty because you don’t want to devote time, people, money, resources, attention, energy to something that you don’t know,” McCormick said, speaking during a fireside chat at ETHConf 2026.

He said large financial institutions value predictable rules because product development requires substantial long-term commitments of capital and personnel.

While the legislation would not eliminate every legal or compliance challenge, it would replace much of the uncertainty that has forced firms to rely on outdated securities laws, he noted.

“It’s not going to instantly answer every question… there’s still going to be tough questions, but it’s very different having a statute purposely designed for this use case rather than trying to jam this use case into something from 90 years ago,” he added.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.