Overview
- The CLARITY Act remains on the Senate legislative calendar with no scheduled floor vote while sponsors and the CFTC chair publicly press for action and opponents raise ethics and sanctions concerns.
- CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the bill is "so close" and urged passage as negotiators work to reconcile competing committee language and unresolved sections before the August 7 recess.
- Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden are pushing for an urgent pre-recess vote and for retention of Section 604, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would clarify that non-custodial software developers who do not control user funds are not money transmitters.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren and law-enforcement critics warn parts of the draft could weaken sanctions and anti-money-laundering enforcement, citing analytics on sanctioned funds routed through exchanges as evidence for tougher language.
- Market and prediction-market odds have risen but remain uncertain in the mid-40% range as the Senate must secure roughly 60 votes and reconcile text with the Agriculture committee or risk delaying comprehensive crypto legislation for years.