Crypto Clarity Act Stalls in Senate Amid Ethics Concerns
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, also known as the CLARITY Act, has stalled in the Senate due to lack of support. The bill needed 60 votes to reach the floor for debate and a later vote on passage but only received 49 votes.
The CLARITY Act aimed to provide a framework for how crypto assets and tokens would be treated, with oversight split between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. However, the bill's progress was hindered by ethics concerns surrounding President Trump's own crypto businesses.
A revised version of the bill included provisions that would have protected non-custodial developers from criminal liability, but these protections were weakened at the last minute. The coalition behind the bill was unable to hold together, with Democrats and some Republicans objecting to the lack of ethics language tied to Trump's crypto dealings.
President Trump signed off on last-minute ethics provisions before the vote, including a requirement for him to divest 'substantial' crypto-related interests or put them in a blind trust. However, this was not enough to sway Democrats, who argued that the bill would put the country at risk of a crypto-fueled economic crash.
The crypto industry is still hopeful that the bill will be revived in a future session, but for now, it remains stalled. The calendar is the main obstacle, with Congress heading into midterm recess and another cloture attempt unlikely until a lame-duck session or the next Congress.