The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is headed for an important moment in Washington as the US Senate prepares to take up the crypto market-structure bill after its August recess.
The bill passed the House in July 2025 in a 294-134 bipartisan vote, but its prospects in the Senate are less clear, with lawmakers expressing disagreement over the ethics, banking and anti-money laundering provisions.
The CLARITY Act would establish a federal framework for regulating digital assets. The bill would set the bounds of the jurisdiction of the SEC and CFTC and require registration of cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers and dealers. The intent of the bill is to replace much of the current case-by-case approach to treating assets as digital commodities or digital securities with statutory criteria.
The Senate recessed on August 7, without acting on the bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed before the recess, setting up a vote on the motion to proceed when the Senate returns in September. This measure requires 60 votes to pass, so Democrats are needed since Republicans alone cannot reach the threshold.
Further disputes have arisen over how to classify crypto, ethics restrictions on digital-asset activities by government officials, anti-illicit-finance safeguards, and measures that would restrict the ability of banks to offer certain digital asset services. Some of these issues remain unresolved, further curtailing lawmakers’ time before the November midterm elections.
Read More: Congress Crypto Bill Delay: CLARITY Act Vote Pushed to September as 2026 Passage Hopes Fade
Prediction markets can also speak to the uncertainty. Polymarket’s prediction market for whether the CLARITY Act will become law by the end of 2026 has fluctuated as negotiations have unfolded. Its probability has dropped sharply, though, since the Senate delayed a decision until September; however, it would seem that the chance of a late deal is not lost on traders.
