Meta description: The CLARITY Act has cleared the Senate Banking Committee, but over 100 floor amendments threaten to reshape — or derail — crypto’s most significant regulatory bill.
Focus keyword: CLARITY Act crypto regulation 2026
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 — the bill the crypto industry has spent years lobbying for — passed the Senate Banking Committee in May 2026. But the real battle is only just beginning. With over 100 proposed amendments already filed ahead of Senate floor debate, the landmark market structure legislation is entering its most turbulent stretch yet.
What the CLARITY Act Actually Does
The CLARITY Act, formally H.R.3633, is designed to answer one question that has haunted the digital asset industry for more than a decade: when is a crypto token a security, and when is it a commodity?
Under the bill, the SEC would retain jurisdiction over tokens that function like traditional securities — primarily those where investors rely on a promoter’s efforts for profit. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would gain authority over most mature, decentralised digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
For developers, the bill includes a provision drawn from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would shield software developers that do not custody user funds from being treated as money transmitters. It is one of the most practically important clauses in the entire text, and one of the most contested.
The bill also defines clear listing and disclosure requirements for digital asset exchanges, sets out conditions under which token sales can be conducted without triggering securities law, and establishes a framework for decentralised finance protocols.
100+ Amendments and a Fiercely Divided Senate
When the Senate Banking Committee convened its markup session on 14 May 2026, members had already filed more than 130 proposed amendments, according to reporting from Fortune. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island alone submitted 18, several of which would fundamentally reshape the bill.
Reed’s amendments would expand restrictions on stablecoin yields — an issue bank lobbyists have pushed hard — and, most controversially, strike the entire Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provision from the text. If successful, that change would expose non-custodial developers to money transmitter licensing requirements in dozens of states.
Senator Tim Scott, the committee chairman, blocked several Democratic amendments during markup, ruling some as improperly drafted. The committee ultimately approved the bill on a bipartisan basis, but the floor amendments still waiting in the queue could reopen nearly every contested issue.
The Sticking Points
Several areas remain genuinely unresolved heading into floor debate.
DeFi and protocol liability. The question of when a decentralised protocol becomes subject to broker-dealer or money transmitter rules has no clean answer in the current text. Multiple amendments seek to either tighten or loosen that definition, depending on whether the sponsor is aligned with traditional finance or the crypto industry.
Stablecoin yields. Banks and their lobbyists are pushing to prohibit payment stablecoins from offering interest or yield to holders, arguing it creates an unequal competitive dynamic with insured deposit accounts. Crypto-aligned senators are resisting.
SEC versus CFTC jurisdiction. Several amendments propose adjusting the threshold conditions under which a digital asset transitions from the SEC’s purview to the CFTC’s. Even minor changes here could affect dozens of mid-cap tokens.
Anti-CBDC provisions. The bill contains a provision styled the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which restricts the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail central bank digital currency without explicit Congressional authorisation. Some senators want it removed entirely; others want it strengthened.
Industry Reaction: Cautious Optimism
The crypto industry’s response to committee passage was cautious. The Blockchain Association and Coin Center both welcomed the vote, while acknowledging the floor process could still produce a significantly changed bill.
“This is the furthest a comprehensive crypto market structure bill has ever gotten in the United States Congress,” said one senior lobbyist familiar with the negotiations, speaking on background. “But a hundred-plus amendments is a lot of negotiating left to do.”
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices were largely unmoved on the day of committee passage, suggesting markets have not priced in the bill as a near-term certainty.
What Happens Next
The CLARITY Act must now clear the full Senate before going back to the House for reconciliation with the House-passed version of digital asset legislation. Any material differences between the two chambers’ texts will require a conference process — adding weeks or months to the timeline.
The crypto industry spent much of 2024 and 2025 working to elect a Congress sympathetic to digital assets. The CLARITY Act is the largest test of whether that investment translated into durable legislative outcomes.
With floor votes expected sometime in June or July 2026, the next few weeks will determine whether the United States gets a clear legal framework for digital assets — or whether the industry faces another multi-year wait.
FAQ
What is the CLARITY Act?
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R.3633) is US legislation designed to define whether cryptocurrency tokens are securities, commodities, or another category — and assign regulatory authority accordingly between the SEC and CFTC.
Has the CLARITY Act been signed into law?
No. As of May 2026, the bill has cleared the Senate Banking Committee and is awaiting a full Senate floor vote. It has not yet been signed into law.
What would the CLARITY Act mean for Bitcoin and Ethereum?
Under the bill, Bitcoin and Ethereum would likely fall under CFTC jurisdiction as commodities, rather than SEC jurisdiction as securities — providing greater regulatory clarity for exchanges and investors trading those assets.
Sources: CoinDesk, Fortune, Reuters, Congress.gov, CNBC
