After the U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed the CLARITY Act, this cryptocurrency market structure bill moved to the next stage. However, before it proceeds to a full Senate vote, its content may still be modified, and Democratic support and controversies surrounding ethical provisions remain the main obstacles to its passage.
The committee vote has been approved.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said that all parties still aim to push the bill toward enactment, but considerable work remains. He noted that, based on the committee review process, Democrats, Republicans, government agencies, and the industry are all still engaged in negotiations.
The CLARITY Act previously passed out of the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 15 in favor and 9 opposed, qualifying it for a full Senate vote. Next, the bill will be merged with another component under the jurisdiction of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which primarily concerns the regulatory authority of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Ethical provisions remain the focus.
If the final legislation is enacted, it will become another federal regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry in the United States, following the Stablecoin GENIUS Act. However, before a full chamber vote, the bill will undergo several amendments, and banking lobbying groups continue to push for a complete ban on stablecoin yield arrangements.
Senator Reuben Gallego, one of only two Democratic senators to vote yes during the committee stage, has stated that he will not support the bill in the full Senate vote unless the final version includes ethics provisions.
The Senate vote still requires cross-party support.
Based on the current seat distribution, if all 53 Republican senators support the bill, at least seven Democratic senators would need to switch to yes votes to reach the 60-vote threshold required for passage. TD Cowen Managing Director Jaret Seiberg has raised the probability of the bill passing to 40%, but remains cautious about its prospects.
He believes the Democratic Party is likely to demand a separate vote on the conflict-of-interest amendment, and the relevant standards could involve U.S. President Trump, making it more difficult to advance the bill. John O’Loghlen, Head of Coinbase Asia-Pacific, said that if the United States establishes a clearer cryptocurrency regulatory framework, cross-border regulatory cooperation could accelerate further.
On the market side, at the time of the report’s release, Bitcoin fell more than 5%, dropping below $78,000. Nic Puckrin, macro analyst at Coin Bureau, believes that the news of the bill’s progress had already been partially priced in by the market, while tensions in the Middle East and ongoing macroeconomic pressures continue to weigh on risk assets.