Senate delays CLARITY Act vote to September, stalling 294-134 crypto bill

The Senate has pushed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to September, leaving the crypto industry's flagship regulatory bill without a floor vote before the August recess.

The Senate has postponed a floor vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act until September, delaying a bill that passed the House 294-134 and cleared the Banking Committee 15-9 in May. The measure has sat on the Senate Legislative Calendar as Calendar No. 423 since June 1, and Majority Leader John Thune had said it would reach a vote before recess, according to Senate records.

Competing priorities — federal nominations and a Russia sanctions bill — crowded it off the agenda, while negotiations over an ethics provision limiting senior officials' crypto ties continued into early August. The White House engaged on a compromise proposal from lawmakers, though Democrats have signaled the current terms may not go far enough.

Both chambers return for only a few weeks in September, with floor time competing against appropriations and the run-up to November's midterms, conditions policy analysts say could erode the bill's prospects the longer it drags. In the absence of the bill, the industry's main guardrails remain existing SEC and CFTC guidance issued outside Congress.

Minority staff flags five loopholes

The Democratic Minority Staff of the Senate Banking Committee released an analysis Aug. 5 identifying five purported deficiencies in the current text. The fact sheet said the bill's two-tiered "self-certification" system would let assets offered on the blockchain escape SEC authority, risking pensions and retirement accounts. It also said the bill exempts businesses tied to decentralized finance platforms from anti-money-laundering and countering-the-financing-of-terrorism responsibilities, citing Treasury Department findings that some DeFi services tout a lack of AML/CFT controls as a goal of decentralization.

The analysis said Section 10303 fails to restore Treasury sanctions authority over decentralized mixers such as Tornado Cash, and Section 10604 removes a requirement to register the businesses behind them. The U.S. Secret Service has warned that criminals and terror groups increasingly use mixers to commingle illicit funds, the one-pager noted. The fact sheet also said the bill does not prevent payment of interest or yield on stablecoins, which could drain deposits from community banks, and does not prohibit the president and family members from benefiting from crypto growth while in office. It said the bill "categorically precludes state attorneys general" from enforcing the law and blocks state and tribal authorities from enforcing their own laws.

Separately, a coalition of 78 civil rights, labor, consumer protection, and technology accountability organizations urged the Senate in a July 31 letter to remove the bill's "AI Innovation Labs" provisions, which would let financial institutions test AI systems under reduced regulatory requirements. Patrick Woodall, managing director of Americans for Financial Reform, said the provision could allow financial firms to deploy risky AI systems while consumers and the economy absorb the consequences.

Coinbase Vice Chair Ryan VanGrack has publicly advocated for the bill's passage as the vote approaches its final deadline, arguing clearer rules would reduce regulatory uncertainty and preserve digital asset innovation in the U.S. The CLARITY Act would divide oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC, creating new classifications that determine which agency regulates different crypto activity. Its passage would give exchanges, custodians, and institutional investors a statutory framework to replace the patchwork of agency guidance now in force, while a September vote adds execution risk to the bill's prospects for 2026 passage.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.