CLARITY Act stalls in Senate: What crypto uncertainty means for CIOs

The U.S. Senate failed Tuesday to advance a revised version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, commonly known as the CLARITY Act, after a procedural cloture vote was rejected 49-50, short of the 60 votes required.

The House passed H.R. 3633 in July 2025. Senate sponsors released revised substitute text Sept. 14 aimed at creating a federal digital-asset market-structure framework and clarifying the respective roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Senate's Sept. 15 vote did not decide final passage; it blocked the measure from advancing at that point.

The vote followed months of disagreement over issues beyond SEC-CFTC jurisdiction. Critics had sought stronger anti-money-laundering safeguards and broader state enforcement powers, while banks warned that stablecoin rewards could pull deposits from traditional lenders. The final Senate text added new ethics language and Treasury authority aimed at potential deposit flight, but the changes did not secure enough votes to advance the measure.

For now, broader digital-asset market-structure questions remain unresolved. That leaves CIOs and technology leaders managing stablecoin projects, crypto custody and vendor relationships without the federal digital-asset market-structure framework they were watching for.