US Crypto Clarity Act Stalls in Senate Vote, Future Uncertain

The Comprehensive Crypto Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act, aimed to bring clarity to the regulatory landscape for digital assets in the US. The bill, formally called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act or H.R. 3633, would have split the authority over regulating digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC, depending on the asset's type. Tokens functioning like commodities would fall under the CFTC, while those functioning like securities would stay with the SEC.

The CLARITY Act also proposed to permit 11 categories of crypto activity for US banks and credit unions, including underwriting and dealing, a broader scope than banks currently operate under. The bill was passed by the House in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee, but ultimately stalled on the Senate floor.

On September 15, 2026, the Senate voted 49 to 50 against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Two sticking points did most of the damage: Senate Democrats raised concerns about government ethics provisions and potential conflicts of interest tied to President Trump's family's crypto holdings and ventures, while a handful of Republican defections added to the bill's problems over stablecoin reward rules.

While the CLARITY Act is effectively dead for 2026, the SEC and CFTC have already issued a joint interpretive release naming 18 assets as digital commodities, including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP, and confirming that protocol staking does not constitute a securities offering. The catch is that agency guidance and interpretive releases can be withdrawn or reversed by a future SEC or CFTC leadership, whereas actual statute cannot.