The CLARITY Act has secured a scheduled procedural vote for September 15, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune filing cloture on the motion to proceed before senators left Washington. The cloture motion will ripen at 2:15 p.m. on September 15, one day after senators return to regular business. President Donald Trump met with crypto and finance CEOs on Wednesday to discuss how to make America the crypto capital of the world, with the CLARITY Act being the 'big topic of discussion' according to Coinbase's Brian Armstrong. 'It's really important that it got scheduled amongst all competing priorities and there was a lot of energy in the room to get it to the finish line,' Armstrong stated. Patrick Witt, Executive Director of President Trump Council of Advisors on Digital Assets, emphasized that 'Now it's time to pass the CLARITY Act to modernize our capital markets and ensure American financial leadership for decades to come.' Despite the uncertainty, Armstrong is confident of a 'strong bipartisan vote' and projects that the bill's passage will trigger the beginning of the next bull market run from October ('Uptober').
The crypto industry is implementing a three-way strategy to mitigate against potential regulatory risk following the recent White House meeting. The industry is pushing for the CLARITY Act's passage by next month, opting for regulators' guidelines as a backup plan if the bill stalls in the midterm, and supporting pro-crypto lawmakers to help pass the CLARITY Act again in the next Congress. Bettors on prediction market Polymarket view the bill's passage chances before 2027 as a coin flip (50/50), with the passage odds before 2026 standing at 24%. Regulators (SEC and CFTC) are already publishing rules for the sector, with the SEC releasing fundraising guidelines for crypto firms earlier this week. However, the only problem is that another anti-crypto administration could reverse such guidelines if they are not codified into law by Congress. Coinbase's Armstrong is hopeful the CLARITY Act will get 'strong bipartisan support' on September 15th, though the industry's bets remain unclear.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott accused Elizabeth Warren's team of trying to drive crypto activity from the United States during his August 18 appearance at the SALT Wyoming Blockchain Symposium. 'Elizabeth Warren's team wants to run Bitcoin and crypto out of the country,' Scott said, as reported by crypto.news. The South Carolina Republican also accused Democrats of repeatedly moving the 'goalposts' for political reasons, arguing that the bill would not advance unless Republican lawmakers applied direct pressure and forced a Senate vote. Scott's criticism places Warren, the Banking Committee's ranking Democrat, at the center of the dispute over the most extensive digital asset market structure proposal considered by Congress. Warren and other Democrats have sought stronger investor safeguards, financial-crime controls and restrictions covering crypto businesses tied to elected officials, creating ongoing negotiations that have stalled the legislation's progress.
Sen. Ruben Gallego warned on August 19 that rushing the CLARITY Act toward a Senate vote could damage negotiations over the U.S. crypto market structure bill, speaking at the SALT Wyoming Blockchain Symposium. 'Don't go for a fast vote,' Gallego said in recorded remarks. 'A fast vote gets you a fast result, but I'm not sure it's the result you want.' His warning comes before a scheduled September 15 cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, which would require 60 votes to advance and begin formal Senate consideration. The Arizona Democrat urged the crypto industry to support continued negotiations instead of demanding immediate floor action, as reported by crypto.news. Gallego also said the White House had not supplied detailed feedback on bipartisan ethics language sent by Senate negotiators, with the administration providing only 'blank' responses or no response at all. Along with the ethics dispute, he identified stablecoin rewards and unresolved Agriculture Committee provisions as matters requiring further work before the legislation advances.
Gallego said he and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis sent bipartisan ethics language to the White House before the recess, with the proposal intended to address Democratic concerns about public officials benefiting from digital asset businesses. However, the administration has not provided a point by point response, according to Gallego. He said previous offers had returned 'blank,' moved negotiations backward or received no response. The White House had not publicly released a detailed reply as of August 20, leaving a central source of Democratic opposition unresolved. Warren has argued that digital asset legislation must contain sufficient consumer protections and prevent public officials from using their positions for personal financial gain, with Democrats aligned with her questioning whether current enforcement provisions would adequately cover money laundering and national security risks. This ethics dispute represents one of three major obstacles threatening the legislation's passage.
Banks and crypto companies remain divided over whether platforms should offer rewards linked to stablecoin balances, creating another significant obstacle to the bill's passage. Banks argue that rewards could draw deposits away from regulated lenders, while crypto companies contend that broad restrictions would protect banks from competition and limit consumer choice. Stablecoin rewards have created another divide, with banks pushing for restrictions preventing crypto platforms from paying yield or rewards on payment stablecoins. Crypto companies argue that a sweeping restriction could limit competition and extend beyond the rules Congress adopted for stablecoin issuers, with negotiators not publicly confirming final language that satisfies both groups. Financial-crime controls and the treatment of decentralized protocols also remain under discussion, as reported by crypto.news.
