Senator Cynthia Lummis Pushes CLARITY Act After $6.3B Binance Hack

TLDR:

• Senator Cynthia Lummis says the CLARITY Act may help crypto firms share information with U.S. law enforcement.
• Lummis argues much faster transaction freezes could have helped contain losses in Binance’s $6.3 billion hack.
• Binance resumed withdrawals on November 1 after its security breach, with customers moving billions in assets.
• Binance says it has covered most affected assets while investigators trace funds tied to North Korean hackers.

Senator Cynthia Lummis has defended the CLARITY Act following Binance’s $6.3 billion hack and renewed customer withdrawals. The Wyoming Republican said direct intelligence sharing could help crypto firms and federal investigators stop stolen assets crossing blockchains.

Her comments came Sunday as Binance reopened withdrawals after the October 29 attack. Customers began moving funds from the exchange again, while lawmakers debated whether proposed legislation could have helped during the breach.

Senator Cynthia Lummis Defends the Clarity Act After the Binance Hack

Lummis said attackers transferred billions across blockchains within minutes, giving investigators little time to intervene. In her latest post on X, she pointed to a proposed pilot program connecting crypto firms with federal law enforcement. “When the industry and law enforcement move together, stolen money stops moving,” she wrote.

The proposal would allow participating businesses and investigators to share information about suspicious transactions. Other provisions would offer certain protections for firms temporarily freezing transfers at law enforcement’s request. However, these measures remain proposals rather than powers created by an enacted law.

On October 30, Lummis said the bill could have allowed quicker freezes during the Binance security breach. Amanda Fischer, a policy executive at Better Markets, challenged that reading, citing provisions involving court orders and existing laws. Lummis replied that Binance would qualify as a covered digital asset service provider under the proposed framework.

The disagreement follows the Senate’s September 15 procedural vote, when the bill failed to advance by 49 votes to 50. Lummis blamed Democratic opposition, although senators voted on advancing the full legislation rather than individual anti-fraud provisions. The CLARITY Act remains unenacted, meaning its proposed protections were unavailable during Thursday’s attack.

Binance Withdrawals Resume as Customers Move Billions

Binance reopened withdrawals on November 1 after temporarily suspending transfers to investigate the breach. Its first phase covered selected assets across 15 blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The exchange said access would return gradually as each network completed its security checks.

The reopening was followed by heavy customer activity, with DefiLlama recording more than $3.5 billion in net outflows on Sunday. Reuters reported the figure, but Binance did not confirm that estimate. The company said withdrawals initially jumped before slowing toward levels it considered normal.

Binance also reported replacing about 95% of the affected assets using its own resources. It said the remaining tokens were harder to source because of limited market liquidity, while customer losses would be covered. A separate report on the Binance withdrawal restart described its phased return across the supported networks.

Meanwhile, the FBI attributed the hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor unit, following blockchain investigators’ findings. Investigators tracked funds moving between chains and reported that attackers were converting assets into Ether. Binance has continued cooperating with law enforcement and token issuers to trace funds and freeze assets.

Lummis argued that closer coordination should become a standard part of the industry’s response to such attacks. Her latest comments came as Binance continued restoring services and investigators worked to track the remaining stolen cryptocurrency.

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