#WhenWillCLARITYActPass

With the passage of the CLARITY Act by the House of Representatives in July 2025 hopes were high that comprehensive market structure and regulation would soon be coming to the crypto space. Despite these hopes, however, the Act has stalled since, with a much anticipated hearing by the Senate Agriculture Committee postponed until the end of January, which was originally schedule to take place simultaneously with the markup session being held by the Senate Banking Committee on the same day. This delay seems to be communicating that political leadership does not believe the Act, at least in its current form, will have the votes to pass through the Senate. Setting aside the partisan nature of Washington D.C., where it often looks like policymakers are more interested in scoring political points versus effective governance, there are a few reasons why the Act remains stalled, as well as a few key points within the proposed amendments that stand situated to dominate crypto policy debates well into 2026.

Several of the key components of the CLARITY Act that have contributed to it being stalled through the approval process include the fact that the Act 1) bifurcates the crypto market by legally defining which tokens fall under SEC versus CFT C oversight, 2) creates federal rules for crypto exchanges, brokers, and custodians, which would also include asset segregation policies and surveillance standards. In short, the Act strives to replace the rule-making by enforcement paradigm that had, until recently, dominated the SEC’s approach to the sector. Interestingly, Coinbase’s withdrawal of support for the current version of the Act further highlights the fact that despite progress, law-making for crypto remains a broad and multifaceted issue.

Out of the over 75 amendments that have been put forward one item that stands out is how widespread the proposed changes might be for the legislation. Although stablecoins, and the ability of issuers to deliver yield on these instruments.