Draft Clarity Act Could Put XRP, SOL, DOGE on Same Regulatory Footing as Bitcoin, Ethereum

A draft U.S. Senate bill could give several major altcoins the same regulatory footing as Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to text circulating ahead of an official release. What the draft would do The preliminary version of the Senate Banking Committee’s “Clarity Act,” released by Chairman Tim Scott, includes a provision that would carve certain tokens out of securities law if they meet a narrow test tied to regulated financial products. Under the draft language, a token would be considered “non‑ancillary” — and therefore not a security subject to SEC disclosure rules — “if, on January 1, 2026, any units of that network token were the principal asset of an exchange‑traded product… listed and traded on a national securities exchange.” Which tokens would benefit Using current exchange‑traded product (ETP) listings as the benchmark, the draft would likely cover XRP, Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), Hedera (HBAR), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Chainlink (LINK). That would place those coins in the same regulatory category as Bitcoin and Ethereum from the bill’s effective date, significantly reducing SEC exposure for products and firms handling them. Why it matters Legal clarity tied to ETF/ETP eligibility primarily affects institutional participation rather than immediate retail speculation. Experts told Decrypt that the change would ease compliance concerns and widen the set of institutions able to offer or hold these tokens, potentially unlocking more institutional demand in the medium term. Market reaction and indicators Altcoins showed muted gains after the draft surfaced, while Bitcoin traded near $93,000, up about 1.9% on the day, according to CoinGecko. On prediction market Myriad (owned by Decrypt parent Dastan), users raised the odds of an “alt season” in Q1 to 18% from 16% earlier in the week. Voices from the industry “If this language survives into the final bill, the immediate impact would be less about prices and more about compliance posture,” said Jordan Jefferson, founder of DogeOS. Jamie Elkaleh, CMO of Bitget Wallet, described the proposal as part of a broader shift toward regulating crypto based on how assets are distributed and used within regulated products. Joshua Chu, lawyer and co‑chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, said tying a “non‑ancillary” label to ETF status could bring XRP, SOL, and DOGE into the same compliance comfort zone that unlocked institutional demand for BTC and ETH — but cautioned that U.S. political dynamics, including the upcoming midterm elections, are a major wildcard. Political trade-offs and next steps The draft also exposes the political negotiations behind any crypto framework: it includes protections for software developers — a concession to DeFi interests — and omits a previously contentious section on stablecoin yield. Overall, the text signals Congress may use ETF eligibility as a practical gateway to legitimacy for certain tokens. The immediate milestone for the proposal is a Senate Banking Committee markup scheduled for Thursday, where senators can debate and amend the draft. The bill’s language could change substantially before any final vote, but the draft provides a clear glimpse of how lawmakers might begin drawing formal regulatory lines for crypto. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news