Trump backs CLARITY Act; Senate stalls

President Donald Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago crypto event that he would sign the CLARITY Act, but the bill is still stuck in the Senate. (coindesk.com) (congress.gov) The bill is H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025. The House passed it on July 17, 2025, by a 294-134 vote and sent it to the Senate on September 18, 2025. (congress.gov) The White House had already backed the House bill in a July 15, 2025 statement, saying Trump’s senior advisers would recommend he sign it if it reached his desk. (whitehouse.gov) CLARITY is a market-structure bill: it tries to decide when a digital asset falls under securities law and when it belongs in a commodities-style regime. The House text assigns roles to both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (congress.gov 1) (congress.gov 2) Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott scheduled a committee markup for January 15, 2026, then postponed it on January 14 as bipartisan negotiations continued. The committee has not moved the bill since. (banking.senate.gov 1) (banking.senate.gov 2) The Senate Agriculture Committee took a different path. Chairman John Boozman postponed his own markup on January 12, then advanced the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act on January 29 as a committee-built version drawing on the House-passed CLARITY Act. (agriculture.senate.gov 1) (agriculture.senate.gov 2) That leaves the Senate with two unfinished jobs: Banking still has to move its version, and any Banking product would still need to be reconciled with Agriculture’s bill before a floor vote. (agriculture.senate.gov) (congress.gov) Senate Banking Republicans say their draft draws a “bright line” between SEC and CFTC jurisdiction, adds anti-fraud and disclosure rules, and includes a title on decentralized finance and illicit finance. (banking.senate.gov) (banking.senate.gov) Industry pressure has been building as the Senate calendar tightens. More than 100 crypto firms urged senators last week to move the market-structure bill, according to CoinDesk. (coindesk.com) Trump’s latest endorsement does not change the legislative math. Until Senate Banking acts, CLARITY remains a House-passed bill with presidential support and no path to the president’s desk. (congress.gov) (whitehouse.gov)