Crypto lobby pushes Senate for CLARITY Act vote before recess

Major U.S. cryptocurrency firms and advocacy groups intensified a lobbying push to win a Senate floor vote on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act before lawmakers leave for the August recess. The campaign included a coalition letter signed by more than 200 companies, including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Circle, Binance.US and Andreessen Horowitz, and a branded Ripple “Clarity Truck” that traveled through Washington.

Backers say the bill would create a federal legal framework for digital assets, clarify which regulator oversees different tokens and trading activities, and keep crypto businesses and jobs in the United States. The House approved H.R. 3633 on July 17, 2025, by 294-134, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced a revised CLARITY Act by a 15-9 vote on May 14. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has acknowledged negotiators still see a path forward but warned the window for action is closing as leaders prepare the August recess.

The bill would allocate oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission based on the nature of an asset and the transaction. The SEC would retain authority over securities offerings and investment-contract transactions, while the CFTC would supervise intermediaries that operate spot markets for digital commodities. The text also references a stablecoin framework derived from the GENIUS Act, barring interest-like payments for payment stablecoins and permitting transaction- or platform-based rewards.

A central dispute involves Section 604, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would protect developers of noncustodial software and certain infrastructure from classification as money transmitters when they do not hold customer assets or control transactions. Four law enforcement groups — the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriffs’ Association — warned in a joint letter that broad exemptions could leave enforcement gaps and weaken know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering obligations.

Lindsay Fraser, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association, wrote that Section 604 narrowly shields only developers who neither custody assets nor control transactions, and that the provision would not block prosecutions for fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion or terrorism financing. The legislation would extend Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions duties to brokers, dealers and exchanges in digital commodities, permit temporary transaction holds when providers reasonably suspect unlawful activity or receive written law-enforcement requests, and expand tools for seizure, forfeiture and information sharing.

Ethics rules for senior officials and their family members remain another contested issue. Democrats have pushed for stricter restrictions on crypto holdings and commercial ties for officials who influence digital-asset policy, a demand intensified by public attention to President Donald Trump’s family connections to cryptocurrency ventures. The Senate Banking Committee rejected an ethics amendment during markup, and negotiators expect the measure to resurface during floor consideration where Democratic support will be needed to clear procedural thresholds.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis said, “I have watched the digital asset community grow from the fringes to the floor of the United States Senate. Now let’s get the Clarity Act to the president’s desk.” Reid MacInnes Cuming, chief executive officer of Ground On-chain, warned that unresolved ethics questions could block passage before the recess, saying reconciliation between House and Senate language still has rough edges and that the ethics provisions are a major obstacle.

Lawmakers must also reconcile the Banking Committee’s language with the Agriculture Committee’s jurisdiction over the CFTC, assemble roughly 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles, and likely return a revised bill to the House because of committee changes. Senators are due back July 13 and remain in session through August 7, creating a narrow window for final negotiations and a partisan arithmetic that will determine whether the bill reaches the floor before the recess.

Industry lobbying for the CLARITY Act has combined in-person meetings with lawmakers, coalition outreach, and public displays. The Blockchain Association circulated a separate letter signed by 160 former national security, intelligence and law enforcement officials urging Senate leaders to advance the bill, arguing that bringing more activity under U.S. oversight would strengthen private-sector cooperation with investigators and discourage migration of business to jurisdictions with weaker transparency rules.