I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6307 

To prohibit certain actions and require reporting to defend against the economic and national security risks posed by foreign adversarial blockchain 

networks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2023 

Mr. NUNN of Iowa (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 

in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit certain actions and require reporting to defend 

against the economic and national security risks posed 

by foreign adversarial blockchain networks, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Legal Ac5 countability for Rogue Innovators and Technology Act of 

6 2023’’ or the ‘‘CLARITY Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Blockchain service activities by governments 

4 and organizations that are adversaries of the United 

5 States can create risks to the economic, national se6 curity and foreign policy interests of the United 

7 States. 

8 (2) The Blockchain-based Services Network of 

9 the People’s Republic of China, and unregulated, 

10 self-proclaimed ‘‘supra-national’’ companies pose 

11 risks to the national security and foreign policy in12 terests of the United States. 

13 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that the development of a Federal Government strat15 egy to protect the United States from risks created from 

16 the Blockchain-based Services Network of the People’s Re17 public of China and other foreign adversarial blockchain 

18 network infrastructure is essential to the national security 

19 and economic security of the United States. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO COVERED DISTRIB21 UTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY AND 

22 BLOCKCHAIN EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION ON ACQUISITION.—No head of an 

24 executive agency may acquire, or enter into, extend, or 

25 renew a contract or other agreement for, any equipment, 

26 system, or service that uses covered distributed ledger 


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1 technology and blockchain equipment or services as a sub2 stantial or essential component of, or critical technology 

3 as part of, such equipment, system, or service. 

4 (b) PROHIBITION ON LOAN AND GRANT FUNDS.— 

5 (1) PROHIBITION.—No head of an executive 

6 agency may obligate or expend loan or grant funds 

7 to acquire, or enter into, extend, or renew a contract 

8 or other agreement for, an equipment, system, or 

9 service described in subsection (a). 

10 (2) PRIORITIZATION.—In implementing the pro11 hibition under paragraph (1), the heads of executive 

12 agencies administering loan, grant, or subsidy pro13 grams, including the Secretary of Homeland Secu14 rity and the Secretary of Commerce, shall prioritize 

15 available funding and technical support to assist af16 fected businesses, institutions, and organizations as 

17 is reasonably necessary for those affected entities to 

18 transition from covered distributed ledger technology 

19 and blockchain equipment or services, to acquire re20 placement equipment and services, and to ensure 

21 that communications service to users and customers 

22 is sustained. 

23 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub24 section (a) or (b) shall be construed to— 


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1 (1) prohibit the head of an executive agency 

2 from acquiring from an entity, or entering into, ex3 tending, or renewing a contract or other agreement 

4 with an entity for, a service that connects to the fa5 cilities of a third party, such as blockchain protocols, 

6 or interconnection arrangements; or 

7 (2) cover wireless telecommunications equip8 ment or third-party validators that cannot route or 

9 redirect user data traffic or permit visibility into any 

10 user data or packets that such equipment transmits 

11 or otherwise handles. 

12 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibitions under sub13 sections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date that is 

14 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

16 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—Except as provided 

17 in paragraph (2), beginning on the effective date 

18 under subsection (d), the head of an executive agen19 cy may, for a period of not more than 2 years per 

20 waiver, issue a waiver of the requirements under 

21 subsection (a) with respect to an entity that requests 

22 such a waiver. The waiver may be provided only if 

23 the entity seeking the waiver— 

24 (A) provides a compelling justification for 

25 the additional time to implement the requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Nov 18, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6307.IH H6307

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1 ments under such subsection, as determined by 

2 the head of the executive agency; and 

3 (B) submits to the head of the executive 

4 agency, who shall not later than 30 days there5 after submit to the appropriate congressional 

6 committees, a full and complete laydown of the 

7 presences of covered distributed ledger tech8 nology and blockchain equipment or services in 

9 the entity’s supply chain and a phase-out plan 

10 to eliminate such covered distributed ledger 

11 technology and blockchain equipment or serv12 ices. 

13 (2) ELEMENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMU14 NITY.—Beginning on the effective date under sub15 section (d), each head of an element of the intel16 ligence community may waive the requirements 

17 under subsection (a) if such head determines the 

18 waiver is in the national security interests of the 

19 United States. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORTS TO DEFEND AGAINST RISKS POSED BY 

21 COVERED DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECH22 NOLOGY AND BLOCKCHAIN EQUIPMENT OR 

23 SERVICES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 


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1 the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and 

2 the Director of National Intelligence shall jointly, and in 

3 consultation with the officials specified in subsection (b), 

4 submit to Congress a report that includes the following: 

5 (1) A description of interagency policies and 

6 procedures to defend the United States financial 

7 markets, United States sanctions, United States 

8 business interests in the People’s Republic of China, 

9 and global supply chains from the economic and na10 tional security risks posed by covered distributed 

11 ledger technology and blockchain equipment or serv12 ices. 

13 (2) A description of commercial and public ad14 ministration activities used by the Government of 

15 the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese 

16 Communist Party involving the entities listed under 

17 subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 7(2), in18 cluding militarization, industrialization, international 

19 trade, and other commercial activity. 

20 (3) An assessment of the foreign policy and na21 tional security risks to the United States relating to 

22 transactions using covered distributed ledger tech23 nology and blockchain equipment or services, includ24 ing circumvention of United States and international 

25 sanctions, including through the Society for WorldVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Nov 18, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6307.IH H6307

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1 wide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (com2 monly known as ‘‘SWIFT’’) payments system. 

3 (4) An assessment of data collection, cybersecu4 rity risks, and the use of data that involves United 

5 States persons by the Government of the People’s 

6 Republic of China and the Chinese Communist 

7 Party involving transactions relating to covered dis8 tributed ledger technology and blockchain equipment 

9 or services of the People’s Republic of China. 

10 (5) An assessment of the use of covered distrib11 uted ledger technology and blockchain equipment or 

12 services to collect data as part of the social credit 

13 system of the People’s Republic of China. 

14 (6) An assessment of the impact and national 

15 security risks of covered distributed ledger tech16 nology and blockchain equipment or services on data 

17 collection, cross-border payments, and economic inte18 gration, including with respect to countries partici19 pating in the Belt and Road Initiative of the Peo20 ple’s Republic of China. 

21 (7) An assessment of the impact of covered dis22 tributed ledger technology and blockchain equipment 

23 or services on the United States blockchain tech24 nology and distributed ledger technology industries, 

25 to include an assessment of its commercial adoption 


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1 globally and its integration with other smart city 

2 technologies in the United States and internation3 ally. 

4 (8) An assessment of the technologies, system 

5 architectures, and protocols underpinning covered 

6 distributed ledger technology and blockchain equip7 ment or services, and recommendations with respect 

8 to strengthening export controls for United States 

9 technologies relating to the development and imple10 mentation of covered distributed ledger technology 

11 and blockchain equipment or services. 

12 (9) An assessment of the impact of covered dis13 tributed ledger technology and blockchain equipment 

14 or services on international illicit finance. 

15 (10) An assessment of the impact of covered 

16 distributed ledger technology and blockchain equip17 ment or services on global trade, investment, and 

18 other activities and how increased use of covered dis19 tributed ledger technology and blockchain equipment 

20 or services may affect the status and future of the 

21 United States dollar as the world reserve currency. 

22 (11) An assessment of how covered distributed 

23 ledger technology and blockchain equipment or serv24 ices fit into the national security and economic ob25 jectives of the People’s Republic of China and the 


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1 Chinese Communist Party, along with other foreign 

2 adversaries. 

3 (12) An assessment of coordination between the 

4 United States and allies of the United States with 

5 respect to the national security risks and best prac6 tices relating to covered distributed ledger tech7 nology and blockchain equipment or services. 

8 (13) Any other recommendations of the Sec9 retary of Treasury, the Secretary of State, or the 

10 Director of National Intelligence regarding the for11 eign policy and national security implications of cov12 ered distributed ledger technology and blockchain 

13 equipment or services. 

14 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 

15 this subsection include the following: 

16 (1) The Secretary of Defense. 

17 (2) The Secretary of Commerce. 

18 (3) The United States Trade Representative. 

19 (4) The Attorney General. 

20 (5) The Chairman of the Board of Governors of 

21 the Federal Reserve System. 

22 (6) The Director of the National Institute of 

23 Standards and Technology and the Under Secretary 

24 of Commerce for Standards and Technology. 


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1 (7) The Under Secretary of Commerce for In2 dustry and Security of the United States. 

3 (c) FORM.—Each report required by subsection (a) 

4 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted 

5 shall include an unclassified executive summary. 

6 SEC. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONGRESS. 

7 Not later than 90 days after each date on which a 

8 report is submitted under section 4, the Secretary of the 

9 Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Director of Na10 tional Intelligence shall jointly submit to Congress a set 

11 of recommendations that contain— 

12 (1) a list of existing enforcement actions that 

13 may be used to defend the United States from risks 

14 identified in the report; and 

15 (2) an action-item plan on steps Congress may 

16 take to address such risks. 

17 SEC. 6. REPORT ON MALIGN ENTITIES IN BLOCKCHAIN AND 

18 DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY INDUS19 TRY. 

20 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

22 Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the 

23 Director of National Intelligence shall jointly, and in con24 sultation with the officials specified in section 5(b), submit 

25 to Congress a report that includes the following: 


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1 (1) A list of countries, proxies, firms, and tech2 nologies that are malign in the blockchain and dis3 tributed ledger technology industry. 

4 (2) A description of what harms such countries, 

5 proxies, firms, and technologies cause to United 

6 States interests and sanctions enforcement, the use 

7 of the United States dollar, and international anti8 money laundering and countering the financing of 

9 terrorism standards. 

10 (3) A description of what mitigating strategies 

11 the United States may use to counter such harms. 

12 (4) Recommendations on how to add to or mod13 ify the list of covered distributed ledger technology 

14 and blockchain equipment or services in order to 

15 capture new networks that emerge from foreign ad16 versaries. 

17 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

18 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted 

19 shall include an unclassified executive summary. 

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com24 mittees’ ’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

2 and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign 

3 Relations, and the Committee on Homeland Se4 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

5 and 

6 (B) the Committee on Financial Services, 

7 the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com8 mittee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 

9 Oversight and Government Reform of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (2) COVERED DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECH12 NOLOGY AND BLOCKCHAIN EQUIPMENT OR SERV13 ICES.—The term ‘‘covered distributed ledger tech14 nology and blockchain equipment or services’’ means 

15 distributed ledger technology and blockchain equip16 ment or services of or originating from a foreign ad17 versary, including any of the following parent com18 panies or subsidiaries thereof: 

19 (A) The Blockchain-based Services Net20 work. 

21 (B) The Spartan Network. 

22 (C) The Conflux Network. 

23 (D) iFinex, Inc. 

24 (E) Red Date Technology Co., Ltd. 


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1 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

2 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

4 (4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘‘foreign 

5 adversary’’ has the meaning given such term in sec6 tion 7.2 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 

7 (5) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

8 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given the 

9 term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 

10 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

Æ 


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