Senate Crypto Bill Faces Uncertain Future Next Week

A week before a procedural U.S. Senate vote on crypto regulation, compliance professionals and consumer protection advocates alike are looking ahead, weighing what happens if the bill passes (or, as is increasingly possible, fails).

On Sept. 15, the Senate will take a vote to advance the CLARITY Act, touted as a regulatory framework for the crypto sector that specifies which agencies (including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) would be responsible for oversight.

Next week’s vote is a step in the longer process toward the bill becoming law, but it requires a filibuster-proof 60 votes to pass, a threshold that has become more difficult to reach as Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed reservations about the legislation.

The Trump administration supports the legislation, and crypto firms financially backed the president, spending $18 million on his inauguration alone. (Trump and his family have also become increasingly ingratiated in the space during his second term, including through co-founding World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm.)

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The House passed its own version of the bill last year, and the Senate Banking Committee released legislative language in May, but its prospects have dimmed largely due to Democrats’ demand for stronger ethics provisions regarding Trump’s involvement in the crypto space. Some Republicans are pessimistic that the bill will pass, according to reporting by Semafor.