The CLARITY Act may be delayed until 2027, with major crypto companies potentially gaining greater advantages during the regulatory vacuum period.

According to Cryptopolitan, the U.S. Senate will enter recess on August 7, leaving an extremely narrow window for the CLARITY Act to pass before then. If voting is not completed this week, the next viable window will be pushed to September, and missing that opportunity could delay passage until after the midterm elections—potentially not until 2027. The primary point of contention in the bill currently lies in the Democratic Party’s insistence on including ethical provisions targeting government officials’ involvement in crypto, though these provisions have not yet been incorporated into the consolidated draft. During this regulatory vacuum, large institutions such as Coinbase and Circle are better positioned to navigate uncertainty due to their financial resources—ARK Invest increased its stakes in both companies this week, and Circle also received federal charter approval as a national trust bank in July. In contrast, smaller and mid-sized crypto firms and DeFi projects continue to face mounting pressure. Market data from Polymarket shows the probability of the CLARITY Act passing within 2026 has dropped to 23%, a significant decline from Galaxy Research’s mid-May forecast of 67%–75%.