U.S. Treasury Secretary pushes passage of the CLARITY Act, and Senate ends recess and returns to wor

U.S. Treasury Secretary urges senators to advance CLARITY Act, crypto market structure legislation faces key vote

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calls on senators to speed up the CLARITY Act. As lawmakers prepare to return to Washington after the August recess, a procedural vote is due to test whether the crypto market structure bill has enough support to move forward.

Core Points

[TAG 7] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant urged senators to advance the CLARITY Act and insisted on staying at the negotiating table.
• The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on September 15, which requires 60 votes to advance the legislative process.
• The National Sheriffs Association withdrew its opposition to the bill on September 3 and became neutral.
• Galaxy Digital significantly lowered its forecast probability of passage of the CLARITY Act in 2026 to 10% from 75% in May.

Treasury Secretary calls for maintaining the momentum of negotiations

Bessent posted on Platform X (formerly Twitter):"I strongly appeal to all parties to stay at the negotiating table, agree to move forward with the next step, and continue the legislative process." He pointed out that failure to move the bill forward would send a "disturbing signal" to the outside world about U.S. leadership in the field of digital assets.

In July, he publicly called on the Senate to advance the CLARITY Act. The bill aims to establish a comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework and improve the ability to prevent criminals from exploiting these key technologies. Bessent said he will continue to promote this important agenda when the Senate returns from its August recess.

Senate test on September 15

The intervention comes as the Senate resumes on September 14 and votes on the "closure vote" of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act the next day. The procedural vote itself will not pass legislation, but will determine whether the Senate can move into formal consideration of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed a motion to close the debate before lawmakers left Washington in August. Under the rules, the vote requires the support of 60 senators. This means that if the Republican camp votes together, Republicans will still need to win the support of Democrats or independent senators to move the measure forward.

This September vote provides an opportunity to advance the CLARITY Act again. Previously, lawmakers did not hold a full house vote when leaving Washington after their summer vacation. Bessant had pushed for action before the recess, when negotiations stalled over terms such as ethics restrictions, software developer protection and stablecoin reward rules.

The bill aims to establish a federal-level digital asset market structure and clarify which crypto assets are subject to the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The House of Representatives passed its version of the CLARITY Act in July 2025, while the Senate Banking Committee moved forward some of its legislation with a 15 - 9 vote in May 2026. Two Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure at the committee stage.

Since then, a merged Senate text has consolidated the work of the Banking and Agriculture Committees, but lawmakers are still negotiating provisions such as stablecoin rewards, illegal financial activity, ethical requirements, and protection for unmanaged software developers. The September timetable leaves senators very limited room to resolve these differences. Lawmakers will return on September 14, with a cloture vote the next day, leaving only a limited number of working weeks before election-related schedules further compress the time available to the entire house.

Law enforcement agency opposition weakens

On September 3, a major obstacle was eliminated as the National Sheriffs Association shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act from opposition to neutrality. Previously, the association had concerns about how the bill would apply anti-money laundering requirements to decentralized financial services and unmanaged software. The shift in position means that less than two weeks before the scheduled procedural vote, there are no longer organizations in law enforcement agencies actively opposing the legislation.

Developer protection has always been one of the most difficult aspects of negotiations. Law enforcement agencies seek to retain the power to pursue illegal financial activities, while the crypto industry advocates protection against developers being identified as money transporters simply for writing or publishing software. By June, the controversy and ethics rules negotiations involving government officials with interests in digital assets had become two major pressure points on the bill.

stablecoin rewards remain a focus of controversy

Banks and crypto companies have spent months negotiating another major issue: whether to allow digital asset platforms to provide rewards tied to stablecoin positions. The Senate Banking Committee's May text allows certain activity-based rewards while limiting passive gains. Banking groups believe that crypto platforms can offer products that compete with bank deposits without complying with the same regulatory requirements.

The controversy prompted a compromise on stablecoin rewards before the Banking Committee vote, although several major banking groups still believed the restrictions were not thorough enough. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said at the time that the bank received key concessions in the negotiations, but he insisted that crypto users should still be able to receive rewards related to actual activity on the platform and blockchain network.

The differences persisted into September negotiations, coexisting with ethics and financial crimes provisions. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said in August that the bill could not move forward without Democratic support and accused Senator Elizabeth Warren's team of repeatedly changing requirements during talks. Warren and other Democrats have been calling for stronger investor safeguards, control of illegal financial activity, and restrictions on crypto business linked to elected officials.

Galaxy expects the chance of passage of the bill to drop to 10%

Despite scheduled votes, Galaxy Digital has significantly lowered its estimate of the probability of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 from 75% in May to 10%. Alex Thorn, head of company-wide research for Galaxy, lowered that estimate in August after lowering the probability from 75% to 60%, and then to 50%.

The company points to the tight Senate agenda and unresolved negotiations as key obstacles. Thorne said lawmakers would have enough time to complete legislation only if the bill took up most of the remaining working time after the Senate's August recess. Expectations for the bill's passage have been declining for months as divisions continue over ethics, stablecoin rewards and developer protection, and the time available in the Senate shrinks.

The September 15 cloture vote requires 60 votes to move forward. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, so if all Republicans support the motion, supporters will need at least seven more votes from Democrats or independents. Even if this threshold is met, the Senate will only be allowed to enter the stage of considering legislation. Senators still need to deal with amendments and remaining negotiations before taking a final vote. In addition, any differences with legislation passed by the House must be resolved before the bill is submitted to the president for signature.