Missouri founders need rules for crypto, digital assets that protect infrastructure and consumers, advocate says

I traveled to Washington, D.C. with Stand With Crypto last month to meet with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s office about the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, also known as the CLARITY Act. 

I made the trip as president of Stand With Crypto Missouri, but also as a builder working at the intersection of blockchain, artificial intelligence, healthcare data, and digital asset infrastructure. Missouri has a real opportunity to lead in this next era of technology, but we cannot do that if American innovators are forced to build inside a permanent regulatory gray zone. 

For too long, everyday crypto users, developers, entrepreneurs, and responsible companies have been left without clear rules. That uncertainty does not protect consumers. It pushes serious builders offshore, slows investment, and leaves the future of digital finance and digital ownership to be shaped somewhere else. 

The CLARITY Act matters because it creates a workable market structure for digital assets. It gives regulators clearer lanes, gives builders clearer obligations, and gives consumers a safer framework for participation. 

This is not just about cryptocurrency prices or speculation. Blockchain is becoming a foundation layer for the future of trusted digital systems. As artificial intelligence expands, we will need better ways to verify data authenticity, track provenance, protect ownership, and create transparent records of how information is used. Ethical AI will require more than good intentions. It will require infrastructure that can prove where data came from, who had permission to use it, and how value moves back to the people and organizations that created it. 

That is where Missouri should be paying attention. We have healthcare systems, universities, agriculture, logistics, financial institutions, and small businesses that could all benefit from clear digital asset rules. With the right framework, Missouri can become a serious place to build practical blockchain and AI applications, not just watch them develop on the coasts or overseas. 

The CLARITY Act has already passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support and has advanced through the Senate Banking Committee. Now it needs a full Senate vote. 

Congress should act quickly. If the United States waits too long, other countries will continue setting the standards for digital assets, AI provenance, and the next generation of financial infrastructure. Missouri should not be left reacting to that future. We should help build it. 

Ryan Wright is president of Stand With Crypto Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri.