Clarity Act Hits Crypto's Favorite Word: "Maybe" — Senate Vote Slips Toward August 🗓️

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged on Thursday that the CLARITY Act, formally known as H.R. 3633 or the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is unlikely to pass before the chamber's August recess, though he said he still hopes to begin floor consideration of the crypto market-structure bill before lawmakers scatter. "I don't think we'll be able to get them done. I would like to at least get Clarity started. We'll see where the votes are," Thune told reporters. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt pushed back, telling CoinDesk he still sees potential in the first week of August. Industry and congressional negotiators had focused on August 7 as the informal deadline for the bill to have a reasonable chance at 2026 passage.

The 60-vote hurdle remains the central obstacle. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning at least seven Democrats must vote yes. Republicans on Wednesday released updated 616-page text that would bar federal officials, including the president, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, with enforcement handled solely by the Justice Department. Democrats whose votes are needed rejected the package. Senator Ruben Gallego, one of only two Democrats to back the bill in committee, told Politico the GOP offer was not a serious effort after months of bipartisan work and vowed to send back counter-language. Gallego is now working with Senator Thom Tillis, who called the White House-backed package a step in the right direction but conditioned his support on stronger guardrails against officials profiting from crypto. Roughly seven Democrats, among them Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner and Catherine Cortez Masto, say they cannot support the current draft, citing gaps on ethics and illicit finance, per Crypto in America. A coalition led by Senator Alsobrooks said the draft "falls short" on consumer and illicit-finance protections. Thune's staff indicated the next immediate priority for Senate floor time will be a bipartisan bill to impose sanctions on Russian leadership and tariffs for trading partners, legislation championed by Senator Lindsey Graham before he died earlier this month; Thune filed cloture on Executive Calendar #6, S.Res.817 (en bloc nominations), according to the Senate press desk.

Industry pressure has intensified. The Digital Chamber, the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association urged Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a joint letter to start floor consideration even as negotiations continue, arguing there is no substitute for durable market-structure law. Solana Institute President and former Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith countered Thune's framing in a post on X: "There is a clear path to pass the Clarity Act before the recess on August 7 – and we must seize it." Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse urged Congress to pass the bill on X, echoing Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty's comment that "perfect can't be the enemy of good," and added that "consumers are left twisting in the wind with the status quo with no clear standards for bad actors." Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called for a full Senate floor vote on Wednesday, and Fidelity Investments backed passage on Friday, with the firm ranked as the world's third-largest asset manager by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute reporting $7.1 trillion in managed assets in its 2025 annual report. The National Fraternal Order of Police, representing more than 382,000 officers, endorsed the revised bill on Friday, saying its "initial concerns have been satisfactorily addressed."

Senator Cynthia Lummis released new text this week that protects customer assets if an exchange fails, a contrast with the Celsius and Voyager collapses in 2022 when customers lost access for years and recovered only a portion of funds. The House passed the bill in July 2025 with 78 Democrats voting in favor. The legislation would hand most crypto oversight to the CFTC rather than the SEC.

Ron Hammond, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Wintermute, said the law has become the victim of election-year politics despite bipartisan support. "The votes are there, but the election politics are louder. The latter will dissipate after November and that's a narrow but very possible window," Hammond said, per Fortune. Thune's comments on Thursday and the Senate's subsequent scheduling moves indicate the CLARITY Act's path before August 8 remains narrow, with a failed vote likely to push the bill into the volatile midterm cycle.