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Key Takeaways
- Three House co-sponsors pressed for Senate movement on the CLARITY Act at Solana Summit Chicago, warning that roughly eight weeks of floor time remain before the summer recess and midterm cycle narrow the legislative window.
- The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill 15-9 on May 14, but the two Democrats who voted in favor said their support on the floor is not guaranteed without further progress on ethics and law enforcement provisions.
- Before a full Senate vote can be scheduled, the CLARITY Act must be merged with the Senate Agriculture Committee version and reach 60 yes votes, a threshold that still requires resolving major disputes between parties and the White House.
Three House lawmakers who co-sponsored the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act appeared at the Solana Policy Institute’s Chicago summit on Monday to press for Senate action on the bill, with roughly eight weeks of Senate floor time remaining before the summer recess and midterm election cycle limit the legislative window. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL), and Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) discussed the bill’s status and its prospects for clearing the Senate at the Washington x Wall Street summit.
What the CLARITY Act Does
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for virtual assets in the United States. At its core, the bill draws a clearer boundary between the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, classifying assets as either securities or commodities so that the SEC and CFTC have clearly established regulatory boundaries.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, by a 294-134 bipartisan vote, but has faced setbacks in the Senate Banking Committee, as banks and stablecoin companies have clashed over how and when rewards can be paid on stablecoin balances. A Democratic push for ethics provisions targeting elected officials’ financial interests in crypto assets has added another layer of complexity to the negotiations.
Senate Committee Clears the Bill, but Hurdles Remain
The Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act in a 15-9 bipartisan vote on May 14, following months of delays. Senators Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks were the only Democrats to vote in favor.
During the hearing, both Republicans and Democrats committed to continuing to work through areas of disagreement, including how best to ensure bad actors using digital assets can be caught, and ethics language to address elected officials profiting from crypto.
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott framed the committee vote in terms of regulatory certainty. Scott said:
“For years, the digital frontier was trapped in a regulatory gray zone. Developers, entrepreneurs and investors were left with uncertainty.”
The two Democrats who voted in favor indicated that their committee votes did not guarantee support on the Senate floor without further progress on outstanding issues.
The Path to the Senate Floor Is Narrow
Committee passage is only one step in a multi-stage process. The CLARITY Act would still need to be merged with a similar version approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee, and lawmakers would need to resolve the conflict-of-interest provision before a final version could be put to a vote by the full Senate, where 60 yes votes will be required, necessarily including a significant number of Democrats.
There are roughly eight weeks of floor time available in the Senate before lawmakers break for the summer and midterm congressional election activity intensifies. In that window, the CLARITY Act would need to clear several procedural steps that cannot begin until the market structure bill is finalized. This is a goal that still requires major disputes between the parties and the White House to be resolved.
Summit Convenes Policymakers, Regulators, and Industry Leaders
The CLARITY Act panel was one of several policy-focused sessions on the agenda. A separate fireside chat examined the CFTC’s evolving role in digital assets, covering the treatment of digital commodities and the regulation of on-chain derivatives. A closing keynote featured the Global Head of Equity, FX, and Alternative Products at CME Group alongside the Solana Foundation’s Institutional Growth Lead.
Whether the bipartisan support needed to clear 60 votes in the full Senate materializes will depend heavily on whether negotiators can resolve the ethics provision and law enforcement concerns that have divided the parties throughout the process. The CLARITY Act’s next steps require the House and Senate versions to be reconciled before a final floor vote can be scheduled.
