CLARITY Act Nearing Deal

U.S. lawmakers are moving closer to a Senate deal on the CLARITY Act, a bill that would split crypto oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (coindesk.com, congress.gov) The House passed the bill on July 17, 2025, by a 294-134 vote, and the Senate received it on September 18, 2025, before referring it to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. (congress.gov, financialservices.house.gov) JPMorgan analysts told clients this week that negotiations are nearing agreement after months of fights over stablecoin rewards and which agency would police different parts of the market. CoinDesk reported the Senate returned from recess on April 13 with the bill back on the agenda. (coindesk.com, coindesk.com) The bill is an attempt to answer a basic question that has dogged crypto in Washington for years: when is a token more like a security, and when is it more like a commodity. Congress’s own summary says the measure would create a federal framework for “digital commodities” and generally put their trading under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (congress.gov, govinfo.gov) Congress’s summary also says the bill would exempt some tokens on “mature” or decentralized blockchains from Securities and Exchange Commission registration, while still leaving the SEC with authority over certain brokers, dealers, and trading venues. The same summary says digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers would be subject to Bank Secrecy Act anti-money-laundering rules. (congress.gov) The White House backed the bill’s goals in a July 15, 2025, statement of administration policy, calling it “a good first-step,” and a later White House fact sheet said Congress should build on the House vote by enacting legislation that gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over spot markets for non-security digital assets. (whitehouse.gov, whitehouse.gov) The Securities and Exchange Commission is running its own public process at the same time. Its Crypto Task Force says it is holding roundtables on “key areas of interest” in crypto regulation as the agency works on a “new approach” to applying federal securities laws to digital assets. (sec.gov, sec.gov) Supporters say the bill would replace years of case-by-case enforcement with written rules for issuers, exchanges, brokers, and dealers. Critics, including some banking interests cited by CoinDesk, have focused on stablecoin-related provisions and warned that some crypto activities could gain looser treatment than traditional finance. (coindesk.com, coindesk.com) The next test is whether Senate negotiators can turn that House-passed bill into text that can clear committee and win floor time. The vote last summer showed bipartisan support; the calendar in April 2026 still looks uncertain. (coindesk.com, congress.gov)