CLARITY Act Hangs in Balance as Crucial Vote Looms on September 15
The CLARITY Act is set to face a crucial vote on September 15, which will determine whether the bill advances or stalls. If it passes, the bill would establish clear regulatory guidance for crypto companies in the US, resolving a long-standing jurisdictional gap.
According to Adrian Wall, Managing Director at the Digital Sovereignty Alliance, the September 15 vote is a cloture motion on the motion to proceed, requiring 60 votes to advance. This would open the bill to floor debate and amendments, while failing it would halt the process entirely for this session.
The CLARITY Act aims to create a statutory test determining when a blockchain network and its associated token qualify as a 'digital commodity', based on factors including network control and maturity. Token offerings structured as investment contracts would remain under SEC securities law, while those meeting the digital commodity threshold would fall under CFTC oversight instead.
Wall said that the legislation is designed to let companies answer three basic questions they currently cannot: what their asset is, which regulator oversees them, and what rules they must follow. The bill has already outpaced its predecessor, FIT21, which passed the House but never received a Senate committee markup or floor vote.