XRP climbed to $1.47, up 8.42%, while XLM surged even harder to $0.1949, gaining 8.44% as the CLARITY Act nears a crucial Senate vote. Both tokens stand to benefit meaningfully if the bill eventually becomes law, as the CLARITY Act aims to draw clearer jurisdictional lines between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), formally classifying certain digital assets as commodities rather than securities. In March 2026, the SEC and CFTC had already identified XRP and XLM, along with HBAR, as examples of digital commodities in joint guidance, with codifying that classification into statute reducing residual legal uncertainty that has specifically constrained institutional participation in payment and settlement networks.
The Senate's Tuesday test vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) represents a pivotal moment for crypto regulation, with the outcome potentially reshaping how digital assets operate. According to CNBC, only two Democrats supported moving the bill in committee, and many say they will not back it unless the ethics language goes further to address concerns about Trump, his family and federal officials profiting from crypto ventures. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., laid out his objections in a Sunday video on X, stating 'I can assure you that I'm not hearing from my constituents that their No. 1 concern is to pass the Clarity Act' and concluding 'We can't let this pass.' However, a Democratic aide familiar with the talks indicated enough Democrats might vote to keep the bill alive, with Sen. Bernie Moreno noting that 'If Senators have concerns about the bill, they can offer an amendment after we agree to take it up.'
Senate Republicans released what they called the final draft late on September 13, incorporating 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats. The updated bill empowers state attorneys general to police ethics obligations for federal officeholders, addressing a key Democratic demand, while sponsors Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman, and Tim Scott said the 635-page text strengthens ethics provisions, expands enforcement roles for state attorneys general, and grants the Treasury new authority to address potential deposit flight from community banks tied to the use of payment stablecoins. However, banking groups remain unconvinced about stablecoin provisions, with the Independent Community Bankers of America and seven other associations warning in a Monday letter that 'a circuit breaker that activates only after substantial deposit flight has already occurred is not a safeguard at all.' They also argued 'Further technical refinements are needed to ensure that the text clearly and directly prohibits interest-like payments on payment stablecoins.'
If the Clarity Act fails to pass, U.S. firms may actually accelerate crypto activities rather than slow down. As reported by Siebert Financial, failure could create a counterintuitive incentive for firms to 'pull forward product launches and tokenization activity into 2027-2028 while today's more favorable regulatory environment remains in place'. Brian Vieten, senior research analyst at Siebert Financial, noted that 'failure to pass CLARITY could actually pull some activity forward rather than eliminate it'. He added that 'passage could give U.S. financial firms a green light to speed up blockchain investment, introduce tokenized products and pursue acquisitions in digital assets'. Failure could still encourage firms to move faster if they want to launch products before a future administration or regulator changes the current policy direction. According to Siebert Financial, Wall Street is expected to continue building digital asset infrastructure regardless of the CLARITY Act's outcome, with companies choosing to offer products under current conditions rather than waiting for future regulatory clarity.
Traditional financial firms have already pushed into crypto through exchange-traded funds, tokenization platforms and other digital-asset products despite years of regulatory uncertainty. According to Bitwise, professional investors have 'already added bitcoin' to their portfolios and spot bitcoin ETFs opened another route for institutional access in 2024. Ryan Rasmussen, research analyst at Bitwise, stated that 'uncertainty over the bill has not become the main factor preventing them from allocating to crypto' and that 'they're not going to remove it from their portfolios because CLARITY doesn't pass'. Investor interest in the bill has increased over the past three months, according to comments cited from Bitwise's Rasmussen, but uncertainty around CLARITY has not become the main obstacle to crypto allocations. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in 2024 has also created a new access channel for professional investors, with Rasmussen noting that professional investors are not expected to liquidate their Bitcoin positions from their portfolios just because CLARITY fails to pass. This suggests Wall Street's digital-asset infrastructure buildout is likely to continue whether lawmakers approve the bill or not, with the outcome affecting speed and scope of existing activities rather than initiating Wall Street's entry into crypto.
Despite political challenges, crypto players sound upbeat regardless of the vote outcome. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC the bill is ready for Senate support, arguing 'frankly, if it doesn't pass, it's also going to be a good outcome because the SEC and the CFTC have said that they're ready to publish rulemaking, and we're going to get regulatory clarity one way or another on the 15th or the day or two after.' Last week, Coinbase reached a deal with Moov, a financial services provider, to give community banks access to stablecoin features, which backers say could ease concerns that the Clarity Act would overshadow community banks. Robinhood has expanded aggressively into crypto and tokenized securities and 'supports the legislation and is pushing for bipartisan backing' according to Michael Ahern, vice president of U.S. government affairs at Robinhood Markets. However, the bill faces significant political hurdles, requiring a large number of Democrats to vote yes if it's to beat the Senate's 60-vote threshold. If Tuesday's test vote advances, more changes on ethics and stablecoin yields are expected before anything gets a final vote, while if it stalls, regulators like the SEC and CFTC could set the near-term rules as soon as mid-month. Prediction markets suggest the odds of passage remain genuinely low, with Polymarket pricing falling from 82% in February to 30% as the time of writing, while Galaxy Research pegs the probability at just 10%.
