Foreign media report that discussions in the U.S. Congress regarding legislation on digital asset regulation are intensifying. Senator Bill Hagerty recently stated publicly that the CLARITY Act “will be completed,” and market focus has shifted from whether the bill will advance to whether Congress can finalize the legislative process swiftly amid its busy agenda.
Focus shifts to legislative progress
The article suggests that Hagerty's statement sends a clearer signal: the current obstacles lie more in procedure and timing than in political support itself. Previously, Congress has advanced the GENIUS Act, indicating that there is still room for progress on digital asset-related legislation.
For XRP holders, this development is significant because the CLARITY Act seeks to clarify the regulatory division of responsibilities between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the digital assets space. Clearer boundaries could reduce compliance costs for exchanges, financial institutions, and developers.
Why is XRP being discussed again?
The article notes that Ripple has previously achieved a key milestone in its lawsuit, with the court ruling that XRP is not inherently a security when sold on secondary markets. However, this does not mean that the overall U.S. regulatory environment is now fully clear, as market participants still face inconsistencies across regulatory agencies.
Under this context, if the CLARITY Act is enacted, legal certainty for XRP-related activities could be further enhanced. The article suggests this would facilitate trading, payment integration, and the deployment of applications based on the XRP Ledger, and may also increase the willingness of certain institutions to participate.
Expectations for supporting policies are also rising.
In addition to the CLARITY Act, the article mentions that Senator Cynthia Lummis recently supported the Federal Reserve’s “streamlined master account” framework. She argues that institutions, whether banks, fintech companies, or crypto firms, should be granted more equitable access to the U.S. payment system as long as they operate within the law.
The article suggests that this direction aligns closely with Ripple’s long-standing advocacy of technology-neutral regulation. If access conditions for payment systems are relaxed, the deployment of blockchain payments, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and enterprise-level on-chain applications could accelerate.
Overall, the core judgment of this commentary is that the CLARITY Act itself may not directly determine the price of XRP, but a clearer U.S. regulatory framework could reduce long-term institutional friction in the industry and improve expectations for institutional adoption of XRP and the XRPL ecosystem.