- The US Senate will vote on the CLARITY Act, a digital assets regulatory framework
- The bill aims to provide legal clarity for crypto companies and has broad industry support
- Senate Republicans revised the bill to address banking and Democrat concerns
The US Senate is set to vote on Tuesday on whether to advance the landmark CLARITY Act, a proposed federal regulatory framework for digital assets.
The bill would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, which crypto companies argue would put them on more solid legal footing. The deep-pocketed industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning to advance the legislation, according to Reuters.
But it remains unclear whether the legislation can secure the 60 votes required to advance, even after Senate Republicans released a revised version on Sunday to address concerns raised by the banking industry and some Democrats.
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Although passage of the CLARITY Act would be positive for the crypto ecosystem and has received broad industry support, investors and analysts have said the crypto market has largely priced in the possibility that the bill will not become law in the foreseeable future, Reuters reported.
“Another delay would be negative but probably not a new regime shock, whereas passage would reduce legal uncertainty and could unlock additional institutional activity,” said Can-Luca Köymen, investment strategist at digital asset bank Sygnum.
Though the vote is procedural, analysts see it as a critical test, with little time remaining on the Senate calendar for Republicans to revive the bill if it fails.
Democrats are pushing for the bill to impose tighter restrictions on public officeholders profiting from their own crypto ventures, partly targeting US President Donald Trump's meme coin and World Liberty Financial, a crypto company run by his sons.
The revised version gives state attorneys general greater authority to enforce restrictions on public officeholders and would require political officials to divest significant existing financial interests in crypto-focused companies or place those assets in a blind trust.
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The updated version also aims to address longstanding concerns from the banking sector over a provision that would allow certain crypto tokens known as stablecoins to compete with bank deposits, potentially affecting lending.
On Monday, banking groups criticised the new draft, saying the revised language did little to ease concerns that stablecoin rewards could eventually hinder banks' ability to extend credit.
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