Senate CLARITY Act Has 4 Weeks to Prove DeFi Exemption Isn't a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card 🏛️

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act faces a roughly four-week window before the August recess as Senate Majority Leader John Thune prepares to bring the crypto market structure bill to the floor in the coming weeks regardless of Democratic readiness, according to Punchbowl News. Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott posted on X on June 29, 2026, that the Senate "should vote on crypto market structure legislation in July," adding that the committee "advanced a bipartisan bill that would deliver clear rules of the road, protect consumers, and keep innovation in America." The bill, which passed the House 294–134 on July 17, 2025, and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15–9 on May 14, 2026, still requires 60 Senate votes to pass.

The central sticking point is Section 604, a provision drawn from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) that would shield software developers who do not exercise ultimate control over their tools from classification as money transmitters under Bank Secrecy Act rules. White House lead crypto adviser Patrick Witt has invited law enforcement groups to a Monday meeting to address objections to the language. The National Sheriffs Association wrote in a May letter to Senate Banking Committee leaders that "no good reason supports giving mixers, tumblers, and DeFi a blanket exemption. While some software developers are not engaged in money transmitting or other activity that should subject them to BSA regulation, plenty of others are." The group was invited to a two-day White House session in June but did not attend.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, a bill proponent, said in a Fox Business interview last week that lawmakers "have been negotiating on the CLARITY Act hardcore since last Labor Day" and that "we're finally to the point where we're going to put out the text over the July 4th, and give people one last really thorough look at the bill, and then we're moving in July." The Senate is scheduled to be out of Washington until July 13, with a monthlong state work period set for August.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday cancelled a signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill that included a ban on a central bank digital currency, saying he would not sign it until Congress passed the SAVE America Act. The move has introduced uncertainty over whether Trump would sign the CLARITY Act; Congress could override a veto with a two-thirds majority in both chambers, and under the US Constitution a bill becomes law automatically if the president neither signs nor vetoes it within 10 days while Congress is in session. Galaxy has cut its CLARITY Act passage odds to 50% as floor time narrows.