The CLARITY Act will not move forward before the Senate’s August recess, but the bill has not been abandoned. According to multiple sources cited by Eleanor Terrett, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office has told crypto industry leaders that Thune still intends to file cloture on the motion to proceed before lawmakers leave Washington.
That would set up the procedural vote for September, when the Senate returns. However, Republicans still need to find enough votes before the bill can move ahead.
Thune Files Cloture, But 60 Votes Are Still Needed
Filing cloture does not mean the CLARITY Act has passed. It simply starts the process of ending debate. The filing itself requires 16 senators to sign on, while the eventual cloture vote requires 60 votes to end debate and allow the Senate to proceed toward consideration of the bill.
That leaves Republicans and negotiators with several weeks to resolve the outstanding issues and find the missing votes.
Brian Armstrong called the delay disappointing but welcomed Thune’s commitment to bring the legislation back in September. He said the industry has already spent a year negotiating the bill and now needs Congress to finish the process.
Why the CLARITY Act Is Still Stuck
The biggest unresolved issue is now stablecoin yield. The subject has returned to the center of negotiations following Wall Street Journal opinion pieces, while banks have been lobbying Republican senators to change the language.
There are also disagreements over:
- The bipartisan ethics agreement
- Illicit-finance provisions
- Stablecoin yield rules
- Broader concerns raised by banks
Journalist Brendan Pedersen reported that the bill has developed a Republican problem after weeks of lobbying by small, state-based banks. Senator Mike Rounds said bankers have an advantage because senators personally know many of them.
Pedersen also reported that Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno became co-sponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act, while both senators are angry with the banking industry over its role in delaying CLARITY and creating divisions among Republicans.
The White House has yet to respond to the bipartisan ethics proposal, although the pressure for an immediate response has eased because the Senate vote is now expected in September.
What Happens Before September?
Crypto regulation is continuing even without the Senate. Armstrong pointed to wider stablecoin adoption, perpetual futures, tokenization of real-world assets and rising consumer use of crypto.
Faryar Shirzad also said regulators under the Trump administration are using their existing authority to provide clearer rules, while governments and financial institutions outside the U.S. continue moving ahead.
Senator Cynthia Lummis echoed the same message after the delay, saying, “we’ve come too far to quit” and that the fight is “far from over.”
For now, September is the next major deadline. Thune’s planned cloture filing keeps the legislation alive, but the real test is that the Senate has only 14 session days in September before the October recess and midterm campaign period.
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