The CLARITY Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee on 14 May 2026 by a vote of 15 to 9. As a result, the most important US crypto market structure bill moves closer to a final vote in the full Senate. However, the votes are not yet there, and a dispute over a single ethics provision is blocking the path forward.
The legislation governs the division of authority between the SEC and the CFTC for digital assets and is regarded as the successor to the FIT21 bill, which failed in the Senate in 2024. Representative French Hill of Arkansas introduced it in May 2025. The House of Representatives passed it in July 2025 by a vote of 294 to 134, but the CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate ever since. Moreover, the latest committee vote again followed party lines. All 13 Republican members voted in favour, while only Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland crossed over from the Democratic side. In addition, the committee rejected an amendment from Senator Van Hollen by 11 to 13 votes, which would have prohibited government officials from holding certain crypto interests. This dispute now represents the final obstacle to passage.
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What the bill regulates
The CLARITY Act divides oversight of digital assets into three categories. Primary jurisdiction over so-called digital asset commodities, meaning the spot market, goes to the CFTC. In turn, the SEC retains authority over restricted digital assets, which qualify as securities. Stablecoins fall into a third category under joint oversight by the SEC and the CFTC.
This division ends a years-long jurisdictional dispute that had pushed the industry into legal uncertainty. For example, Patrick Witt, crypto adviser to the White House, described the bill as a solution that gives the industry roughly 90% of what it needs. Interest in swift passage is correspondingly high.
A transitional solution is already in place. On 17 March 2026, the SEC and the CFTC published a joint 68-page interpretation that explicitly classifies 18 crypto assets as digital commodities, including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP and Litecoin. It bridges the gap while the bill remains pending, but does not replace it.
Seven votes short in the full Senate
Before the decisive vote, negotiators must merge two versions: the one from the Senate Banking Committee and the one from the Senate Agriculture Committee. The latter had already passed its own market structure version in January. Only then can the full chamber vote. Furthermore, the real hurdle lies there. The bill needs 60 votes to clear the cloture threshold and overcome a filibuster. With 53 Republican senators, at least seven Democratic votes are therefore missing. Possible swing voters include Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Chris Coons and Raphael Warnock.
The price for those votes is set by the ethics provision. It would prevent senior government officials from profiting from business ties with the crypto industry and is considered the biggest stumbling block on the way to a vote. Gillibrand has set a condition: without such a clause, she will not allow the bill to pass. At the same time, this is exactly where the conflict lies. The White House has repeatedly signalled that it will not tolerate a provision aimed at the president's crypto interests. Therefore, the seven missing votes do not hinge on market structure, on which broad agreement exists. Instead, they hinge on a question of conflict of interest at the top of government.
The timeline grows tight
Assessments of when passage might come differ widely. Galaxy Research puts the probability of passage in 2026 at 75% and expects a signing in the week of 3 August 2026, according to research head Alex Thorn. The White House's original target of 4 July is now considered ambitious. Senator Lummis called a full Senate vote in June "probably quite optimistic." On the more pessimistic end, TD Cowen warns of a slippage into 2027.
The pressure on the calendar is real. The Senate has four working weeks left in June and only three more in July before the August recess. At the same time, the bill competes for floor time with budget negotiations, FISA debates and a housing bill recently passed by the House of Representatives. As a result, a vote before the Memorial Day recess on 21 May was ruled out from the start. Even signing does not end the uncertainty immediately. Enforceable rules are unlikely to exist before 2027, because the SEC and the CFTC need 12 to 18 months for rulemaking. Until then, the industry continues to operate under the March interpretation. After that, the final version must align with the version already passed by the House of Representatives, either through direct adoption or via a conference committee.
The coming weeks will determine whether the pace can be maintained. Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, expects intense negotiations between the two committees and initial compromises on the Agriculture side. On the Banking side, however, the mood remains cautious. Cynthia Lummis, co-architect of the bill, summed up the state of play after the committee vote as follows.
"Nobody is popping the champagne yet. There is still a great deal to do." - Cynthia Lummis, Senator (R-Wyoming) and co-architect of the CLARITY Act
