Overview
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the CLARITY Act and scheduled a procedural cloture vote that will ripen on Sept. 15, making that the next formal test for the bill’s path to debate and possible passage.
- The White House says it will keep negotiating with Democrats up to the September vote and is pressing for passage because it believes only legislation can deliver durable market-structure clarity for digital assets.
- Key policy gaps remain unresolved and are blocking consensus: enforceable ethics rules tied to senior officials’ crypto interests, limits on stablecoin rewards or yields to protect bank deposits, and stronger anti‑money‑laundering safeguards.
- Regulators are not waiting for Congress: the SEC will consider a formal 'Regulation Crypto' proposal at an open meeting on Aug. 14 and the CFTC has scheduled industry engagement, steps that could set binding rules if the bill fails.
- Markets and analysts have cut near‑term chances for enactment to roughly 20–30% and industry leaders say they will keep lobbying while preparing to adapt to agency rulemakings that could redefine the market without a statute.