After months of negotiations involving the crypto industry, the banking sector, and lawmakers who had been publicly calling for changes, the long-awaited CLARITY Act has cleared a major step toward becoming law.
The measure advanced with support across party lines in the Senate Banking Committee, winning the last pre–full Senate vote hurdle ahead of the next phase in the legislative process.
15–9 Vote Clears CLARITY Act
The committee vote largely followed party patterns, passing 15–9. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland reportedly joined all Republicans on the panel in supporting the bill.
Chair Tim Scott said the goal is to move the measure forward to provide clearer guidance and standards for the sector. He argued that for a long time the digital economy has been stuck in a regulatory gray zone, leaving developers, entrepreneurs, and investors to deal with confusion and enforcement actions rather than predictable “rules of the road.”
Chair Scott Rejects Democratic Amendments
The hearing also included discussion of amendments offered by Democratic senators aimed at addressing concerns tied to issues such as stablecoin yields and anti–money laundering (AML) measures.
According to CNBC, those amendments were either voted down or rejected by Scott on the grounds that they were not written correctly and could not be offered during the process.
If the CLARITY Act clears the full Senate, it will still face a second major hurdle: approval by the House. The House has already acted before, but it passed a different version of the bill last fall.
That means the legislation could require further reconciliation between the Senate’s final text and the House’s earlier version before it can be sent forward.
Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com