CLARITY bill may extend Wyoming cryptocurrency rules nationwide

Senator Loomis promotes the CLARITY bill to extend Wyoming's digital asset model to the United States.

Senator Cynthia Loomis supports the CLARITY bill and hopes to extend Wyoming's digital asset model to the United States before the Senate vote on September 15. The bill needs 60 votes to move to the next stage.

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Loomis said that Wyoming's cryptocurrency laws provide a feasible model for federal regulation. The CLARITY Act divides the regulatory authority of digital assets to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Some unmanaged developers will be exempted from the financial intermediation rules. A closing vote on September 15 will determine whether the Senate begins debate on the bill.

Loomis positions Wyoming as a model for the CLARITY bill

Senator Cynthia Loomis said on social media that Wyoming had established rules for digital asset businesses long before Congress began developing a federal market structure framework. The Wyoming Republican pointed out that the state's practical experience shows that lawmakers can both regulate industries and allow companies to operate and finance in the United States.

Loomis said: "Wyoming had a legal framework for digital asset companies before Washington even started focusing on digital assets, and we have demonstrated that it works."

According to Loomis, the CLARITY Act follows the state's thinking, establishes "clear rules for keeping builders in the United States" and applies it nationwide. Her comments made retaining businesses a core argument for the bill's passage, while lawmakers were debating whether federal regulatory uncertainty had pushed some crypto activity outside the United States.

Since 2018, Wyoming has enacted more than two dozen laws related to blockchain and digital assets. State legislatures have developed legal definitions for multiple blockchain-based forms of property and approved special purpose depositaries (commonly known as SPDI) to provide services to digital asset companies under state bank licenses.

Unlike traditional banks, Wyoming's SPDI is designed to hold digital assets and provide related financial services under state supervision. The model provides crypto companies with clear legal paths for depository and banking operations, while federal agencies continue to apply existing securities, commodity and banking laws on a case-by-case basis.

Adoption of the Wyoming model at the federal level will not exactly replicate every regulation in the state. The CLARITY Act covers national transactions, financing, information disclosure and regulatory jurisdiction, while Wyoming law covers state charters and the legal treatment of digital property. Loomis sees both frameworks as the result of the same policy choice: developing specific rules before determining whether a company is in violation.

CLARITY bill will divide powers between SEC and CFTC

The CLARITY Act will create a federal classification for digital assets and determine whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission exercises regulatory authority. Eligible digital commodities will fall under the CFTC's spot market supervision, while the SEC retains the authority to regulate assets and transactions that meet the requirements of securities laws.

Under the proposed framework, cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers and dealers that handle digital goods will enter the federal registration system. Issuers of certain assets are also required to disclose information about their operations, token ownership and blockchain networks.

The bill is 257 pages long, contains six chapters, and uses a 20% control threshold when assessing whether a blockchain system has reached a mature state. The test considers whether a person or a coordinating group controls enough of the network or its assets to be able to affect its operations.

For U.S. token issuers, the classification process may affect how they finance and whether secondary market transactions are governed by SEC or CFTC rules. Investors may also receive different information disclosures and customer protection measures based on asset classes and trading platforms.

The bill contains provisions for unmanaged software developers, wallet providers and blockchain verifiers. Developers who publish or maintain software but do not control client funds will not automatically face registration obligations that apply to exchanges or other centralized intermediaries.

Developer protection has been part of the Senate debate over decentralized finance and anti-money laundering controls. Lawmakers are debating how to protect individuals who write open-source software while not creating exemptions for businesses that exercise control over transactions or customer assets.

Customer crypto assets will receive bankruptcy protection

Customer property in a bankrupt crypto company is another component of the proposed framework. Under the Act, digital assets held for customers would be considered customer property in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, rather than part of the bankrupt company's own assets.

This treatment helps distinguish assets held by customers from assets available to the company's general creditors. This distinction is crucial when platforms go into liquidation, because otherwise customers may have to file claims with unsecured creditors and cannot recover specific assets held in their name.

The bill links this protection to the way companies hold and record customer property. Custody arrangements, ownership records, and terms accepted by users all affect how assets are handled in bankruptcy, so legal language and subsequent institutional rules are crucial to U.S. holders.

Wyoming's framework solves a related issue at the state level by defining control and ownership interests in digital assets. Loomis cited this legal basis as evidence that lawmakers can make rules for crypto property without relying entirely on court decisions after a company fails.

In addition to the custody provisions, the CLARITY Act will impose disclosure and operational requirements on registered market participants. The SEC and CFTC will be given rulemaking powers, requiring both agencies to develop detailed standards after the bill is passed, rather than writing all compliance requirements directly into law.

The potential role of the CFTC will be particularly significant because the agency currently does not have general statutory regulatory powers over the digital commodity spot market. Its current powers focus on derivatives and enforcement of fraud or manipulation involving commodities.

The September 15 vote was a procedural test and not a final pass.

The House passed the CLARITY Act by a vote of 294 to 134 in July 2025, with 78 Democrats joining the Republican camp. In May 2026, the Senate Banking Committee approved parts of the bill by a bipartisan vote of 15 - 9.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune then filed closing debate on a motion so that the bill would enter a procedural vote at 2:15 p.m. ET on September 15. The motion requires the support of 60 senators before the Senate can begin debate, consider the amendment, and move to a final vote.

Recent Senate calendar analysis shows that lawmakers will return from the August recess on September 14, leaving only 14 working days before the midterm election campaign limits the legislative window. Even if the closing debate is successful, senators may still revise the text of the bill before a full vote.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said he expects the bill to make progress and hopes it will reach President Donald Trump for signature. Atkins 'support comes as the SEC is developing independent digital asset rules that can be advanced without congressional approval.

However, institutional rulemaking does not replace the Senate legislative process. Congress could set permanent legal boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC, and rules passed by either agency must remain within the authority already granted by federal law and may be modified by future committees.

Any Senate change would require the House to approve exactly the same wording before the bill could reach the President. House leadership has canceled meetings before the mid-term election recess in mid-to-late September, leaving the House with little time to review the Senate's revised version during the month.