The CLARITY Act Is Here: 7 Ways Self-Custody Merchant Accounts Just Got Easier in 2026

Spring 2026 is bringing the regulatory clarity merchants have been waiting for.

The CLARITY Act passed the House last summer. Senate Banking wrapped up their review. Treasury Secretary Bessent made it clear: this legislation crosses the finish line this spring.

For merchants running self-custody payment solutions, this changes everything.

Here's exactly how your merchant accounts just got significantly easier to operate.

1. Clear Regulatory Boundaries Mean No More Compliance Guesswork

Before the CLARITY Act, merchants lived in regulatory limbo.

Is your crypto payment a security? A commodity? Which agency has jurisdiction?

Nobody knew for sure.

The CLARITY Act draws bright lines between SEC and CFTC oversight. Digital assets used as payment methods now have clear classification. You know exactly which rules apply to your merchant account.

Larecoin operates on this clarity advantage. Our LareBlocks Layer 1 infrastructure was built with regulatory compliance baked in from day one. Merchants using our ecosystem don't need lawyers on speed dial to process payments.

2. Self-Custody Just Got Legal Protection

The CLARITY Act explicitly protects merchants' right to self-custody.

No intermediary holding your funds. No third-party controlling your treasury. Your keys, your crypto, your business.

Traditional payment processors like NOWPayments and CoinPayments charge 0.5-1% fees partly because they custody your assets. That custody model adds risk, delays, and costs.

Larecoin's Master/Sub-wallet system lets you maintain complete self-custody while managing multiple revenue streams. Your main treasury wallet stays secure. Sub-wallets handle daily transactions. All under your control.

The regulatory protection is now codified in law.

3. Stablecoin Reserve Requirements Build Customer Trust

The CLARITY Act establishes clear reserve requirements for stablecoins.

This matters more than most merchants realize.

When you accept LUSD (Larecoin's stablecoin) for payments, your customers now know there's regulatory oversight. Every LUSD is backed. Reserves are audited. Transparency is mandatory.

This builds trust at checkout. Customers feel confident paying with stablecoins. Merchants feel confident accepting them.

LUSD offers gas-only transfers and Push-to-Card services: meaning you can convert crypto to fiat and push it to any debit card instantly. With regulatory backing, this becomes a legitimate alternative to traditional payment rails.

4. NFT Receipts Finally Have Legal Standing

Here's where it gets interesting for forward-thinking merchants.

The CLARITY Act's classification framework gives NFTs clear regulatory status. NFT receipts aren't securities. They're proof-of-purchase digital assets.

Larecoin pioneered NFT receipts for merchants. Every transaction can generate an NFT receipt with complete purchase history, warranty information, and authenticity verification embedded.

With the CLARITY Act, these aren't just cool tech: they're legally recognized proof of transaction. Returns, exchanges, warranty claims: all verifiable on-chain.

Traditional processors like Triple-A can't offer this. They're stuck in Web2 thinking.

5. Lower Compliance Costs Mean Lower Processing Fees

Regulatory clarity reduces compliance overhead.

Less overhead means lower fees.

Larecoin already offers 50% lower fees than NOWPayments, CoinPayments, and Triple-A. The CLARITY Act makes this gap even wider.

Why? Because clear rules eliminate expensive legal review for every transaction type. Streamlined compliance reduces operational costs. Those savings pass directly to merchants.

Our fee structure:

• Standard transactions: 0.25%

• LUSD stablecoin payments: 0.15%

• Plus 1.5% automatically allocated to verified charities (social impact baked in)

Compare that to traditional crypto processors charging 1% or more.

6. AI-Powered Compliance Tools Work Better With Clear Rules

Larecoin's AI/ML search and classification system just got exponentially more powerful.

Clear regulatory frameworks mean AI can accurately classify transactions, flag compliance issues, and optimize payment routing automatically.

Our AI-powered shopping experience in the B2B2C metaverse now handles compliance checks in real-time. Merchants process international payments without worrying about jurisdiction issues.

The system knows the rules. The AI applies them. You focus on running your business.

Legacy platforms can't match this. Their AI doesn't have clear rules to work with.

7. DAO Treasury Management Becomes Mainstream

The CLARITY Act legitimizes decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as business entities.

For merchants, this unlocks collaborative treasury management.

Larecoin's DAO infrastructure lets multiple stakeholders govern merchant treasuries. Set spending limits. Require multi-signature approvals. Automate charitable distributions.

Your 1.5% social impact allocation? Route it through DAO governance. Your community decides which charities receive funds. Complete transparency through LareScan, our Layer 1 blockchain explorer.

This wasn't legally viable before. Now it's a competitive advantage.

The Metaverse Merchant Advantage

All seven of these improvements compound in Larecoin's metaverse environment.

Self-custody wallets. NFT receipts. AI-powered compliance. DAO governance. Lower fees. Stablecoin certainty. Clear regulations.

These aren't isolated features. They're integrated into a complete merchant ecosystem.

Your store operates across physical POS terminals, online checkouts, and immersive metaverse shopping experiences. Same wallet. Same compliance framework. Same regulatory clarity.

Check out our metaverse shopping features to see how forward-thinking merchants are already building for this future.

What This Means Right Now

The CLARITY Act finalizes this spring.

Merchants who adopt self-custody payment solutions now will have first-mover advantage when regulations take effect.

Larecoin's infrastructure is ready. Our LareBlocks Layer 1 is live. LareScan provides complete transaction transparency. Master/Sub-wallets give you custody control. LUSD stablecoin offers instant settlement.

The regulatory framework is coming. The technology is here.

Traditional payment processors will spend months retrofitting their systems to comply. They'll pass those costs to you.

Or you can switch to a platform built for this regulatory environment from the start.

Visit larecoin.com to set up your merchant account. Join our community forum to connect with other merchants already making the transition.

Self-custody just became easier, cheaper, and legally protected.

The question isn't whether to adopt self-custody merchant accounts.

The question is how fast you can make the switch.