Labor unions create major opposition to senate cryptocurrency bill

The Senate crypto bill, called the CLARITY Act, has come under scrutiny and intense opposition once again. Five of the U.S.’s major labor organizations have sent damning letters pressuring senators against the vote for a cryptocurrency market structure bill.

These labor unions have warned that the crypto bill would expose millions of workers’ retirement accounts and public pensions to unfair market volatility, just before a Senate Banking Committee markup scheduled for Thursday.

These organizations include the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The coalition representing tens of millions of public and private sector workers sent letters to lawmakers on May 9, according to CNBC.

Unions claim workers would bear possible losses

Four of the five groups (SEIU, AFT, NEA, and AFSCME) wrote jointly to the lawmakers, claiming the crypto bill “jeopardizes the stability of workers’ retirement plans, including public pensions” and would bring “significant volatility” into retirement savings.

The unions argued that if crypto firms make risky bets that end up failing, ordinary workers and retirees would bear the brunt of the financial damage, not the industry’s wealthiest.

The AFL-CIO sent its own message in a letter to Banking Committee members on the same day. The federation warned that “absent sufficient regulation, embedding cryptocurrencies … and other digital assets into the real economy will have a destabilizing effect, while benefiting issuers and platforms at the expense of working people.”

Labor unions join banks in pushback against crypto bill

Labor unions are not the first to oppose this crypto bill. The American Bankers Association (ABA) has also stated its displeasure at the bill, with worries that liquidity could drain out of traditional banks if the crypto bill is signed.

ABA CEO Rob Nichols wrote to bank executives on Sunday that the language in the bill surrounding crypto firms and the yield on payment stablecoins is not clear enough, according to previous reporting by Cryptopolitan. Nichols argued the crypto bill will “unnecessarily incentivize the flight of bank deposits.”

The crypto community itself has taken the opposite view on that standing. Coinbase has voiced its support for the revised stablecoin language in the bill, and Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has also praised the bill in a post on X. Saylor wrote that the legislation “would unlock the next wave of Digital Capital, Digital Credit, and Digital Equity in the U.S. and globally,” calling it a signal of “institutional validation for BTC.”

Thursday’s Senate markup outcome remains uncertain

The Senate Banking Committee is set to sit on Thursday to mark up the crypto bill. Despite months of negotiations among all parties involved, it remains unclear whether committee Democrats will vote in favor of the act. Several lawmakers have said the bill needs more work and revision, especially on topics of ethics, rules guiding conflicts of interest, and security safeguards.

The general crypto community has identified the CLARITY Act as its top legislative priority this congressional session.

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