The CLARITY Act, the bill meant to set market structure rules for the US crypto industry, is now caught in a two-front fight. Senator Elizabeth Warren wants language barring Trump and his family from profiting off crypto, while banking associations are pushing back on the bill's stablecoin yield provisions. A Senate vote is expected before August 10, and Majority Leader John Thune isn't yet sure there are enough Democratic votes.
What the bill needs to clear the Senate
The CLARITY Act has been under consideration in Congress for more than a year. Passing it requires 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats, possibly more, will need to sign on. Majority Leader John Thune said the chamber will take up a vote before August 10, though it remains unclear whether support is there.
The rush has a simple reason. Despite years of debate, the US still lacks a single agency responsible for overseeing crypto. The SEC and CFTC have argued for years over who should regulate digital assets, and the CLARITY Act was meant to settle that fight.
Lobbying groups estimate crypto companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars pushing market structure legislation through Congress over the last two election cycles. For the industry, this isn't just about regulatory clarity, it's about investments already made while waiting for the bill.
Time is short. Congress has less than four weeks before its August recess. Supporters agree that if the bill doesn't pass now, it risks getting bogged down by the November midterms, which could shift the balance of power in both chambers.
The industry has waited more than a year for this bill. Some market participants argue the CLARITY Act would legalize most crypto activity and deliver long-awaited clarity. Others warn it carves out exemptions from financial rules that have stood since the Great Depression.
Warren targets Trump's conflict of interest
On Monday, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a letter to Senate leadership demanding the CLARITY Act include language barring President Donald Trump and his family from profiting off the crypto industry. No such restriction has been added to the bill yet, even though disclosures showed Trump earned more than $1.2 billion from crypto ventures last year.
"The crypto legislation heading to the Senate floor must prevent the president, vice president, senior administration officials, members of Congress, and their families from profiting off the crypto industry. Anything less would be a flagrant giveaway to the president and his family at the expense of the public."
- Elizabeth Warren, Senator for Massachusetts, from a letter to Senate leadership, July 13, 2026
On Tuesday, several more Democrats joined the opposition, including Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen, both seen as possible 2028 presidential contenders. They held a joint press conference stressing Trump's crypto dealings and how the bill would weaken financial oversight across the entire system.
Both sides are now working to sway the Democrats whose votes will decide the bill's fate. Crypto industry lobbyists point to the economic upside for the US, while the party's progressive wing is demanding tougher ethics guarantees before any vote.
Banks want clearer rules on stablecoin yield
Alongside the political fight in the Senate, the bill has run into resistance from the banking sector. The American Bankers Association, together with state banking groups, sent a joint letter asking for clearer language on the CLARITY Act's stablecoin yield provisions. The letter landed ahead of a House hearing scheduled for Friday.
Banks worry that stablecoins like USDT could offer customers yield comparable to deposit rates, without the banking regulation or reserve requirements that traditional lenders face. For banks, that's a threat of deposit outflows, so they're pushing for the same rules to apply to both sides of the market.
Similar fights broke out during last year's GENIUS Act debate. That compromise never fully satisfied either bankers or stablecoin issuers. The stakes are higher with the CLARITY Act, since it sets the rules for the entire crypto market, well beyond stablecoins alone.
What else stands in the bill's way
Beyond the political disputes, the Senate is simply short on hands. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized after a health issue last month. Lindsey Graham died suddenly over the weekend, and his seat has yet to be filled. Trump urged senators to pass the bill in Graham's memory, calling him a "big supporter" of crypto legislation, even though Graham wasn't directly involved in the negotiations and rarely spoke on the subject.
Delays like this aren't new for crypto legislation in Congress. Previous attempts to pass market structure rules for digital assets have collapsed twice in the last three years, both times over a last-minute shortage of votes. Supporters of the CLARITY Act hope the deadline pressure will speed up a deal this time.
- A shrinking pool of Republican senators able to vote complicates the math on 60 votes
- Democrats are demanding ethics safeguards tied to the president's family income
- The banking sector is pushing for a rewrite of the stablecoin yield terms
- The November midterms could reshape both chambers of Congress
What it means for the market
For institutional players and stablecoin issuers, the CLARITY Act's uncertainty means another waiting cycle. Companies holding Bitcoin and Ethereum on their balance sheets as part of a corporate treasury are delaying decisions on further purchases until clearer rules arrive.
The stakes are large. Industry trackers estimate the global stablecoin market topped $1.79 trillion for the first time in June. How much of that market ends up based in the US depends heavily on what the final text of the CLARITY Act looks like.
The stablecoin market has long wanted federal rules that would remove some of the regulatory uncertainty and open the door to new bank products built on tokenized dollars. Until that happens, major issuers keep operating under a patchwork of state-by-state rules.
For everyday crypto holders, the effect is less direct but still real. The longer the regulatory limbo drags on, the more cautious banks and payment providers get about handling customers' crypto transactions.
If the vote fails before the August recess, the next real shot won't come until after the November elections. That would mean at least another year without federal clarity for crypto businesses in the US.
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