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Clarity Act likely misses Senate window before August recess
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the vote could slip into September, with ethics language and Democrats' refusal to back the current draft cited as the main roadblocks.
Decrypt reports Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not expect the Clarity Act, a sweeping U.S. crypto market-structure bill, to clear the chamber before lawmakers scatter for the August recess.
The reporting points to ethics as the immediate sticking point. Republicans released an updated 616-page draft that would bar federal officials, including the president, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, with enforcement handled solely by the Justice Department, but Democrats said it is not a serious effort and rejected it, leaving the measure short of the 60-vote threshold.
Decrypt says about seven Democrats, including Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner, and Catherine Cortez Masto, are not backing the current text, citing gaps on ethics and illicit finance, while Sen. Ruben Gallego, who backed the bill in committee, is working to send back counter-language.
The industry is urging Senate leadership to begin the floor process anyway, with Digital Chamber, Crypto Council for Innovation, and Blockchain Association asking Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to move the bill despite ongoing negotiations. Decrypt adds that analysts and prediction markets see shrinking odds, and that missing the August window could make passage this year much less likely as midterm campaigning accelerates.