TLDR
- A new Senate CLARITY Act draft could arrive as soon as next week.
- The draft may merge Senate Banking and Agriculture committee work.
- The CLARITY Act needs 60 Senate votes to advance.
- Ethics rules remain a key dispute in the CLARITY Act talks.
- Developer protections and stablecoin rewards remain unresolved.
A new Senate draft of the CLARITY Act could arrive as soon as next week, but disputes over ethics rules, developer protections, stablecoin rewards and agency vacancies still leave the crypto market structure bill short of a clear path to passage.
Senate Draft Aims to Merge Two Committee Tracks
The updated draft is expected to combine work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees, CoinDesk reported. The text is expected to include more than 70 pages of new material and place more focus on consumer protections.
The CLARITY Act is designed to create a federal framework for digital asset markets and divide oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The House passed its version in 2025 with bipartisan support, but Senate negotiations have moved more slowly.
Senate supporters are aiming for possible floor action as soon as the week of July 20. The timing remains tight because lawmakers have only a few weeks before the summer break and before political attention shifts toward the fall midterm cycle.
The bill needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, meaning Republicans must secure support from several Democrats. That support has not been locked in, and the White House has not signed off on the merged draft or joined the latest talks, the report said.
Ethics Rules and Agency Vacancies Remain Open
One major dispute centers on ethics rules sought by Democrats. The proposed limits would restrict senior government officials, including the president, from keeping business ties with the crypto sector.
Several lawmakers have said they cannot support a final bill without a compromise on those limits. The issue has become one of the clearest political risks for the legislation as debate over crypto-linked conflicts continues in Washington.
Agency staffing is also part of the debate. The White House pushed back on claims from Senate Democrats that it has refused to nominate Democratic commissioners to the SEC and CFTC, saying it requested names for vacant seats but had “not received names in response.”
Both parties have argued that the SEC and CFTC should have full leadership teams before major new crypto rules move forward. The Senate is expected to return from recess on July 14, adding pressure to resolve nominations and legislation at the same time.
Developer Protections and Stablecoin Rewards Divide Lawmakers
Another unresolved issue is the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would protect non-custodial software developers from being treated as money transmitters when they do not control customer funds. Senator Ron Wyden has urged Senate leaders to keep the language in the bill.
Wyden has argued that developers should not face money transmitter rules merely for publishing code, while still allowing the Justice Department and FinCEN to pursue illicit actors. Law enforcement groups have raised concerns that broad exemptions could weaken investigations.
Lawmakers are also debating Section 604, which would exempt some software developers and infrastructure providers from money transmitter treatment. Critics say the provision could weaken anti-money laundering tools, while supporters say it is needed to protect non-custodial crypto development.
Stablecoin rewards remain another point of dispute. Lawmakers are weighing whether platforms such as Coinbase should be allowed to offer customer rewards on stablecoin holdings, even though the GENIUS Act bars issuers from paying interest.
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