Following Senate delay, crypto bill has a narrow window to become law

The Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act is expected to be held for a cloture vote in September upon the US Senate’s return, but it still faces significant hurdles on the path to becoming law.

Just before the Senate broke for a month-long recess last week, Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture for the crypto market structure bill to go to the floor for consideration. Lawmakers will return from recess on Sept. 14, but only have 14 days scheduled to be in session before breaking for a recess before the November election and another 22 days before the end of the year.

This 36-day window for the CLARITY Act still has many crypto industry advocates publicly expressing their optimism for the bill’s chances in Congress, but lawmakers had not announced any deal on many of the provisions still at issue. These included ethics language affecting US President Donald Trump’s ties to digital assets and additional restrictions for crypto companies offering stablecoin rewards.

The Senate had 13 months to consider the CLARITY Act after it was passed by the House of Representatives last year. In that time, the chamber faced more than one government shutdown, pushback from industry leaders and opposition from many Democrats saying that the then-version of the bill would enable what they called Trump’s “crypto corruption.”