Following Senate delay, crypto bill has a narrow window to become law

The Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act is expected to be held for a cloture vote in September upon the US Senate’s return, but it still faces significant hurdles on the path to becoming law.

Just before the Senate broke for a month-long recess last week, Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture for the crypto market structure bill to go to the floor for consideration. Lawmakers will return from recess on Sept. 14, but only have 14 days scheduled to be in session before breaking for a recess before the November election and another 22 days before the end of the year.

This 36-day window for the CLARITY Act still has many crypto industry advocates publicly expressing their optimism for the bill’s chances in Congress, but lawmakers had not announced any deal on many of the provisions still at issue. These included ethics language affecting US President Donald Trump’s ties to digital assets and additional restrictions for crypto companies offering stablecoin rewards.

The Senate had 13 months to consider the CLARITY Act after it was passed by the House of Representatives last year. In that time, the chamber faced more than one government shutdown, pushback from industry leaders and opposition from many Democrats saying that the then-version of the bill would enable what they called Trump’s “crypto corruption.”

Related: Crypto industry will be ‘just fine’ if CLARITY Act doesn’t pass: Chris Perkins

Should the Senate hold a cloture vote in September, lawmakers would still have only a matter of days to address issues in the bill before a potential floor vote and breaking for the pre-election recess. After November, when 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats would be up for grabs, the midterm election results could complicate discussions on the legislation, with many members of Congress potentially leaving in 2027.

US regulators to step up amid uncertain legislation?

With the market structure bill once again in limbo for at least a month, many experts are looking to financial agencies like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for regulatory clarity. The legislation is expected to give the CFTC more authority to oversee and enforce regulations affecting digital assets, but with the law still under consideration, agencies have signaled they will act if Congress won’t.

In a July interview, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said that the agency was “ready, willing, and able to come out with rules“ to address crypto if Congress failed to pass CLARITY. Similarly, CFTC Chair Michael Selig said in April that the commission was “ready to take responsibility” to oversee crypto markets, but in reference to lawmakers passing the market structure bill. Both agencies have taken steps to coordinate oversight of financial markets.

Magazine: BIP-110 ends with a whimper, CLARITY vote punted: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 9