Key facts
- The Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act with a 15-9 vote.
- The bill now requires 60 votes in the full Senate to overcome a filibuster.
- Two Democrats, Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, voted to advance the bill but expressed reservations about final passage.
- Key issues like ethics provisions and reconciliation with the Senate Agriculture Committee's work remain unresolved.
- A compromise on stablecoins regarding passive yield bans and activity-based rewards was retained.
- Amendments concerning ethics for government officials and Treasury sanctions on DeFi services failed.
The CLARITY Act has cleared a significant hurdle with its advancement from the Senate Banking Committee in a 15-9 vote, but its path to becoming law remains uncertain. The bill now faces the full Senate, where it will need 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster.
While the committee vote saw all 13 Republicans in favor, along with Democrats Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, their support is conditional. Both senators indicated that while they voted to advance the bill in good faith, unresolved issues, including ethics provisions and alignment with parallel work in the Senate Agriculture Committee, must be addressed before they can lend their final approval.
The markup session involved over 100 amendments. A compromise on stablecoins, banning passive yield while allowing activity-based rewards, survived banking lobby pressure. However, an amendment proposed by Senator Chris Van Hollen to bar senior government officials from certain crypto business interests failed, as did an amendment by Senator Elizabeth Warren that would have given the Treasury authority to sanction DeFi services. Several technical amendments from Senator Cynthia Lummis did receive broad bipartisan support.
Crypto lobbyists are actively working to secure the necessary votes for passage, with hopes for a July vote. However, even in the most optimistic scenario, enforceable regulations are not expected until 2027.