The **CLARITY Act has passed a key Senate Banking Committee vote with a 15-9 bipartisan vote, moving the US crypto market structure bill closer to a full Senate vote. According to reports, the committee advanced the revised Senate text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, which aims to define how digital assets are regulated in the US. The vote breakdown reveals a coalition of support with Republican members joined by at least two Democrats, specifically Senators Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks. This crossover support is vital for the bill's survival in the broader chamber, though the vote was split largely along partisan lines with all 13 Republican members supporting it and only two Democrats voting in favor, suggesting possible hurdles ahead as the legislative clock continues to wind down ahead of the November 2026 mid-term elections. Chairman Tim Scott (R-N.C.) emphasized that the bill was the product of several months of good-faith negotiations between Republicans, Democrats and various stakeholders, stating the legislation does not take sides between traditional finance and new technology, but takes the side of everyday Americans.
Bitcoin surged to $81,899 following the committee vote before retreating to approximately $81,500, up 2.8% over 24 hours, while XRP led among the top ten cryptocurrencies, surging above $1.50 with gains of more than 6%—a level not seen since March of this year. According to market reports, Strategy climbed 7% and Bitmine advanced 5.6%, with broader crypto equity gains extending to Nasdaq and S&P 500 record highs. Hyperliquid rose around 11% as traders see it as a high-beta bet on clearer rules for crypto trading and derivatives infrastructure, while XDC and Canton gained nearly 10% reflecting renewed interest in institutional blockchain rails. The market response was relatively positive as investors processed the implications of a more structured regulatory environment in the United States.
The CLARITY Act's successful passage through the Senate Banking Committee was the result of months of negotiations that resolved the contentious issue of stablecoin yield language. The compromise prohibits intermediaries (such as cryptoasset exchanges) from offering yield on customers' passive stablecoin holdings, ensuring that passive stablecoin holdings cannot act like bank deposits. However, the text permits intermediaries to offer rewards on other stablecoin-related activities, providing it does not resemble passive yield or interest. This provision was one the cryptoasset industry sought to retain, but the banking industry sent over 8,000 letters to members of the Senate in the few days leading up to today's vote, demanding further revisions to the language. The American Bankers Association and other financial trade associations have urged senators to use the Clarity Act to close a loophole that allows digital asset service providers like exchanges to bypass the Genius Act's ban on paying interest or yield on payment stablecoins. The coalition, which included the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Consumer Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, Independent Community Bankers of America and National Bankers Association, stated that the banking industry continues to believe the Clarity Act should be strengthened further by tightening the prohibition on interest-like rewards for holding stablecoin while allowing certain payment stablecoin transactions and activities to generate rewards.
Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) played a key role in securing state-level consumer protection provisions during the committee negotiations. As reported by Senator Ricketts, he worked to include a provision to Section 205, preserving the authority of states to enforce consumer protection laws combatting cryptocurrency kiosk ATM scams and fraud. This provision builds on Nebraska's leadership in digital asset regulation, as Senator Ricketts previously signed Nebraska's Financial Innovation Act into law, making Nebraska the second state in the country to establish a state-level regulatory system for digital assets. The state-level approach complements federal regulatory frameworks by providing additional consumer protection mechanisms at the state level, addressing concerns about fraudulent cryptocurrency kiosks and ATMs that have proliferated in recent years.
Democratic members of the Banking Committee have demanded that CLARITY include ethics provisions that restrict government officials from engaging in cryptoasset activity that poses conflicts of interest, a concern driven primarily by the business activities of President Donald Trump's family with cryptoassets. While negotiations have been ongoing, Republican Committee members ultimately decided not to include such language in the bill put forward today, arguing that ethics considerations sit outside its remit, and that such language can be added via amendment on the Senate floor. During the markup session, the Committee voted to reject a Democrat-sponsored ethics provision introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen, which appears to explain why the vote failed to garner support from most Democrats. Additionally, Senators have been debating language about the appropriate regulatory treatment of decentralized finance (DeFi)-related platforms, as well as protections for software developers, with Democrats' concerns about those measures not yet fully resolved.
The committee vote gives the bill momentum, with a final version now moving to a vote by the entire Senate, followed by a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives before reaching President Donald Trump's desk for signature. Crypto advocates are pushing to have the Clarity Act passed into law before the midterm congressional elections this November. The bill must still clear the full Senate with a 60-vote threshold, requiring continued and expanded bipartisan support from the Democratic side. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, meaning the bill will require additional Democratic support beyond the two senators who voted yes in committee. The timing for the final vote remains tight with lawmakers facing a looming summer recess and approaching midterm election calendar that could slow down legislative progress. Leading members of the cryptoasset industry have already praised the vote to advance the bill out of the Committee, expressing optimism that the bill will pass the full Senate and will reach President Trump's desk before the August Senate recess. The committee action marked "an important step" toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets, "a goal the banking industry supports," according to a coalition of financial trade associations.
