Quick Take
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) confirmed with The Block that the Senate is delaying a vote on the Clarity Act until lawmakers return from their August recess.
- “Were getting that queued up first thing when we come back,” said Thune.
The U.S. Senate is delaying a vote on the Clarity Act, a landmark crypto market structure bill, until lawmakers return from their August recess next month.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) confirmed with The Block late Thursday that the Senate is pushing back a procedural vote for the Clarity Act until September.
“Well, the Dems are insistent on no Clarity vote. Anyway, I worked with sponsors of the bill,” Thune said. “Senator [Cynthia Lummis] was great, and we're getting that queued up first thing when we come back.”
The Senate is set to leave on a month-long recess starting on Friday and will be back in Washington in mid-September for a few weeks. Attention is likely to be focused on, and will increasingly shift, to elections in November — leaving the few weeks in September pivotal to passing crypto legislation.
A source familiar with the matter said Senate Democrats were reluctant to take the vote due to its potential political implications ahead of the midterm elections and the crypto industry's growing influence.
The delay gives lawmakers several more weeks to try to secure the 60 votes needed to advance the bill when the Senate returns in September, the source added.
The legislation would require Democratic support to clear that threshold, while Republican support for the bill has also wavered. If the Clarity Act clears the Senate, it would have to go back to the House for a vote before being sent to President Donald Trump's desk.
“While this isn't the result any of us hoped for when we began the week, the fight is far from over,” said The Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone in a statement. “The next few weeks, we will continue to work to find the last pieces of common ground needed to set up a successful vote when Congress returns in September.”
Contentious issues
Several contentious issues have slowed the bill's progress over the past year. One early flashpoint was how to regulate stablecoin rewards, which allow users to earn interest on deposited funds. The debate quickly evolved into a broader clash between the crypto industry and the banking sector. In May, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon blasted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong as “full of sh–,” in an interview with Fox Business.
Ethics concerns have also loomed over negotiations, particularly as Trump's cryptocurrency holdings and business interests have expanded. His crypto ventures — from the launch of his memecoin to his family's ties to World Liberty Financial — are now estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Trump is now weighing the latest ethics proposal from Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), which includes language that would allow state attorneys general to enforce a provision that would prohibit public officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. It also includes language requiring him to divest from crypto-related businesses, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Concerns over illicit finance have also remained a recurring sticking point. Some lawmakers argue the Clarity Act does not provide law enforcement and consumer protection agencies with sufficient tools to police illicit activity, a characterization the crypto industry strongly disputes.