Several major tech companies traveled to Washington, D.C. today for a meeting to review the current draft of the proposal. Attendees included Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and a variety of smaller companies, according to sources familiar with the matter. Fortune is first to report that Microsoft was in attendance.

The administration issued an executive order on June 2 mandating the creation of this framework within 60 days, or by August 1. The directive seeks to define which models are eligible for review, and instructs the AI labs that they have “up to 30 days” to submit them to the government prior to their public release.

The secrecy surrounding the framework may not instill public confidence in the government’s ability to vet and secure powerful AI models, especially after OpenAI confirmed its models hacked into another company, Hugging Face, last month. Anthropic later confirmed its models had done the same three times.

The fact that the process is voluntary raises questions about how the administration will enforce it. Per the executive order, the framework is not “mandatory governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models.”

Chris McGuire, Senior Fellow for China and Emerging Technologies for the Council on Foreign Relations, called the decision to keep the framework behind closed doors “baffling.”

“We can’t have secret, voluntary rules to regulate the most important tech in the world,” McGuire wrote on X. It’s unclear if the administration is operating behind closed doors for national security reasons, because it does not want input from outside researchers and experts, or for some other reason.

The U.S. government has already been working with major AI companies to review their latest model releases. In June, it effectively took Anthropic’s Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models off the market, subjecting them to export controls, and then worked with the company to fortify security before making them available. Then, the government worked closely with OpenAI ahead of its July 9 debut of GPT-5.6. On July 21, Google said it had made its 3.5 Flash Cyber model available to the government ahead of release as well.

Current discussions on Capitol Hill likely aim to formalize these engagements. It’s unclear if the framework is finalized or still in progress. In the meeting today, attendees floated the idea of a future event related to the proposal, perhaps to continue discussing it.

LINK (LINK -0.66%), the native token of the Chainlink oracle network, doesn’t attract as much attention as blue chip cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC +0.36%) and Ether (ETH +0.08%). It’s also plunged more than 50% over the past 12 months as fears of interest rate hikes and other macro headwinds chilled the broader crypto market. However, LINK has plenty of irons in the fire — and it could soar much higher once the crypto market warms up again.

What sets LINK apart from other cryptocurrencies?

Chainlink isn’t a blockchain. It’s a decentralized oracle network that fetches real-world data — including news headlines, weather reports, stock tickers, sports scores, and shipping updates — and delivers that information to developer-driven blockchains like Ethereum. Those developers use that real-time data to create decentralized apps (dApps).

Chainlink’s network is powered by independent node operators, who aggregate that real-time data in exchange for LINK tokens. They can then stake (lock up) those tokens as collateral to earn interest-like rewards. But if they feed false data into the network, their tokens can be confiscated and their reputation scores (for attracting new requests) reduced.

Today’s Change

(-0.66%) $-0.05

Current Price

$8.19

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$6.1BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.

Day’s Range

$8.12 – $8.26

52wk Range

$7.03 – $27.70

Volume

177M

LINK’s entire supply of one billion tokens was pre-minted on Ethereum, and no more tokens can ever be created. But as Chainlink expands and attracts more developers and node operators, LINK’s value should rise. Chainlink is already the world’s largest oracle network, and it’s working with major financial institutions such as UBS, JPMorgan, and Euroclear to accelerate blockchain transactions and tokenize real-world assets (RWAs).

It’s also helping older platforms — including SWIFT (for interbank transfers) and the DTCC (for U.S. stock trades) — streamline their settlements. If the CLARITY Act finally passes, that regulatory clarity could prompt more financial institutions to tether their ecosystems to Chainlink, which in turn could lead more investors to value LINK as a utility token rather than a speculative altcoin.

How high could LINK soar?

If Chainlink becomes a “picks and shovels” play on decentralized apps and blockchain-driven upgrades for legacy financial institutions, LINK will attract much more attention. Some bullish analysts expect it to soar back to the double digits over the next few years.

That said, LINK’s volatility could still curb Chainlink’s near-term growth. If its institutional partners think the token is too volatile, they might negotiate private agreements in which their node operators are paid in stablecoins or even fiat currencies. But if LINK stabilizes and gradually appreciates, it could become just as important as Bitcoin or Ether.