Key Takeaways
Senate leaders delayed the CLARITY Act vote until September, stalling major U.S. crypto regulation progress.Ethics disputes over politician crypto holdings derailed negotiations, blocking a consensus before recess.Bipartisan dissent left the bill short of 60 votes, forcing lawmakers to revise banking and legal rules.
Broken Promises: No CLARITY for Now
The window for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act closed before the recess, and now it has been confirmed that ongoing work and a possible cloture vote on the bill have been delayed until September, even after industry heavyweights pressured for it to happen this week.
Politico first reported that Majority Leader John Thune had punted the bill after the August recess, blaming Democrats who still have issues with the bill.
“The Dems insisted on no Clarity vote. We’re getting that queued up first thing [when] we come back in September,” Thune reportedly declared late Thursday. Senior Congress reporter Jordain Carney confirmed that the delay was indeed happening and that work on the bill would restart post-recess.
Thune had declared that he expected a vote on the CLARITY Act to happen the week before recess, stressing that they would work to get the bill done. “We have a bunch of stuff that we have to finish, and we’ll just stay here until we finish it,” he stressed on Tuesday.
Nonetheless, the act has stalled due to a tug-of-war between the White House and Democrats, who have failed to find a middle point on the ethics provisions proposal. Latest reports indicate that Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego have proposed a clause requiring the president and other federal officials to divest any ownership in a digital asset company worth more than $1 million if it represents over 10% of the firm’s value, clearly targeting Trump’s crypto endeavors.
The role of state attorneys general has also been an element of discussion, as there are concerns about upcoming chases fueled by political differences.
Even so, there was no reported consensus for a positive outcome of a cloture vote, which would require at least 60 votes for the bill to pass, with even some Republicans reporting they would be a no. Senator Jerry Moran and Senator Josh Hawley, both Republicans, stated they would vote against CLARITY if no changes to address banking concerns are included.
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