Senate Delays Crypto Regulation Bill Until September

The Senate's August recess has come to an end without voting on the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency regulation bill that was expected to pass before the midterm elections. Despite industry hopes that the bill would be cleared in August, it will now head to the floor in September.

Ian Katz, managing partner at Capital Alpha, believes that the odds of passing the bill have dropped significantly since the decision to postpone the vote. With only a three-week window in September to get the bill through Congress, time is running out for its passage.

The main holdup in negotiations has been an ethics provision, which bars elected officials from profiting off the industry and requires public officials and their spouses to divest crypto assets. Democrats are pushing for language that would ban officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, while Republicans have agreed to a White House-approved proposal that would task the Justice Department with enforcement.