The Senate Banking Committee advanced a landmark digital asset market structure bill Thursday after months of negotiations, signaling fresh momentum for the long-stalled measure.
The so-called Clarity Act would establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator for large parts of the crypto industry while the Securities and Exchange Commission would retain authority to oversee digital securities. The bill now heads to the Senate floor, where lawmakers will need to combine it with another version from the Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the CFTC.
"This legislation does not take sides between traditional finance and new technology," said Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott. "It brings digital assets out of the shadows and into a system that is safer, fairer and more transparent."
The 15-9 vote will likely be cheered by the crypto industry, which has long-sought to create clear rules for the digital asset space, but the bill still faces challenges.
It's unclear whether senators, in consultation with the White House, will be able to hash out a bipartisan ethics provision meant to limit government officials' ability to profit from crypto-linked business. Those ethical concerns largely target President Donald Trump, whose family's wealth has been transformed by digital assets.
Some Democrats have also said said they will not support the legislation without stronger consumer protections and software developer prosecution provisions.
If they can clear those hurdles with the support of enough Democrats, the bill could garner enough votes to pass the Senate. It would still need to be voted on again in the House, which passed a separate version of the legislation in 2025.
Stablecoin Rewards
The committee vote came after a bipartisan compromise was brokered by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks following months of back-and-forth negotiations among lawmakers, bank groups and crypto firms. Those talks centered on the ability of crypto exchanges to offer rewards to customers for holding stablecoins, a type of crypto token whose value is pegged to assets like the US dollar.
An earlier effort to hold a committee vote in January was derailed when Coinbase Global Inc. CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew his support over attempts to limit those rewards.
Bank groups have continued to raise concerns that offering users rewards tied to stablecoins, particularly just for depositing them into digital wallets, could cause deposit flight and impair banks' ability to lend. The latest version of the legislation allows crypto firms to offer rewards for using stablecoins for payments or transactions, but not for activities resembling traditional account deposits.
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