CLARITY Act in Trouble? Senate Delay Gives SEC Room to Restructure Crypto Rules

Key Insights:

• CLARITY Act faces a September Senate vote after lawmakers delay.
• SEC prepares new crypto offering rules while Congress remains stalled on legislation.
• Ethics, stablecoin safeguards, and banking concerns remain key obstacles to passage.

The CLARITY Act will return to the Senate in September after lawmakers left Washington without holding a key procedural vote. Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture early Saturday on the motion to proceed with the bill.

That filing placed the legislation on the Senate schedule for when lawmakers return from the August 2026 recess. The delay now gives negotiators several weeks to address the disputes blocking the bill.

Senate Delay Leaves CLARITY Act Negotiations Open

The delay, as highlighted by Eleanor Terrett in her X post, followed disagreements between Republicans, Democrats, the White House, and banking interests. Republicans accused Democrats of refusing to compromise on the legislation. Democrats, meanwhile, said the White House had not accepted their proposed ethics agreement.

Those disagreements have also affected the bill’s path among Republican senators. At least two Republican senators, Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), have indicated they cannot support the CLARITY Act in its current form.

The banking industry’s position has added another layer to the negotiations. Banks have argued that the bill does not provide enough protection against stablecoin-driven deposit flight. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno responded by joining a bipartisan credit card competition measure.

That move came as Lummis continued to push for progress on the crypto bill. She said that she remained frustrated after the Senate left Washington without holding the expected vote. With lawmakers now away for several weeks, negotiations will continue outside the Senate chamber.

SEC Moves Forward While Congress Waits

The legislative pause comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission prepares its own regulatory action. The SEC will hold an open meeting on August 14 at 10 a.m. ET. Commissioners will consider whether to propose rules covering certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.

The timing places the SEC’s initiative alongside the delayed negotiations on the CLARITY Act. According to Eleanor Terrett, the proposal could build on the SEC and CFTC’s joint interpretation issued in March.

That interpretation created a five-category token taxonomy and clarified when crypto-related investment contracts begin and end.

The proposed proposal could create a tailored offering regime for certain crypto assets. It may also establish registration exemptions and safe harbors for qualifying offerings. However, the SEC’s meeting notice does not identify the proposal as Regulation Crypto Assets.

The agency’s broader regulatory agenda includes additional measures affecting the crypto market. Those proposals address asset custody, broker-dealer requirements, and transfer-agent rules. The SEC has also issued guidance and no-action letters this year to provide targeted regulatory relief.

September Vote Will Test Crypto Bill’s Path

While the SEC prepares new crypto regulations, Senate negotiators still face several unresolved issues. The largest dispute concerns proposed ethics requirements involving President Donald Trump’s crypto-related business interests.

Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego proposed giving state attorneys general a role in enforcing the ethics provisions. Their proposal would also require Trump to divest from crypto-related business interests. Trump said he did not oppose placing his family’s crypto businesses into a blind trust.

However, Trump objected to provisions that he said would treat him differently from others. The White House had not publicly responded to the bipartisan counteroffer as of Friday.

Other negotiations could involve the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act and the bill’s commodities section. Senators may also revisit stablecoin yield provisions during the August recess.

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