Key Takeaways
- Schumer called a Senate caucus on the CLARITY bill, setting up a decisive vote on its future.
- Ethics disputes and stablecoin yield concerns threaten to block the bill from advancing on Tuesday.
- Demands for official crypto divestments derailed bipartisan support, putting passage at risk.
Senate Democrats To Consider Position On CLARITY Bill
The destiny of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, often called the CLARITY bill, and the crypto industry in the U.S. might be determined today.
Per Politico, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a caucus meeting on Sunday to discuss the partys stance on the new draft text that Senate Republicans circulated on Thursday with over 100 changes allegedly requested by Democrats.
The meeting comes as the Senate will vote on whether to advance a cloture vote on the bill or drop it entirely on Tuesday, with Republicans exhorting their counterparts to allow the bill to be discussed while negotiations occur.
While the bill had bipartisan support at some point, negotiations derailed, and now most Democrats are expected to vote against it, as key disagreements in the ethics provision remain, and community banks still have major objections to how CLARITY regulates stablecoin yields.
On Friday, President Donald Trump met with advisors to consider new language in the ethics provisions; it is unclear whether Trump, who has links to several crypto endeavors and memecoins, will agree to Democrats proposals, which would include divestments of current crypto investments by public officials, according to earlier reports.
As this news broke, Senator Chris Van Hollen stressed on social media that Democrats could not let CLARITY pass as it “does nothing to stop Trumps crypto corruption or the use of crypto by bad actors.”
In Tuesdays vote, CLARITY needs to sway at least seven Democrats to agree to its discussion if all 53 Senate Republicans vote in favor. Nonetheless, even some senators from the Republican aisle have objected to the current stablecoin yield language and have publicly stated that they would vote against the bill if the language on this key issue is not changed.
While rising from an all-time low of 14%, chances of CLARITY passing this year are at a low 25% on prediction market platforms like Polymarket, even with the current Republican push and calls from the White House to pass the CLARITY Act to stay ahead of China and maintain digital asset innovation in the U.S.