Catenaa, Thursday, September 10, 2026- Senate Republicans have released a revised 630-page version of the Clarity Act ahead of a September 15 procedural vote, adding rules for certain crypto trading protocols while leaving major political disputes unresolved.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and other Republican lawmakers released the updated text Thursday as the Senate prepares to resume work on federal cryptocurrency market-structure legislation.
Lummis said lawmakers incorporated more than 114 provisions requested by Democratic colleagues during negotiations.
The bill seeks to establish a federal framework governing digital-asset markets and clarify regulatory responsibilities across US agencies.
Its immediate challenge is securing enough bipartisan support to advance in the Senate.
The Clarity Act has encountered repeated obstacles during the past year, including disagreements involving stablecoin rewards, illicit finance controls and ethics restrictions for government officials with crypto interests.
The latest version also introduces language covering what it calls “non-decentralized finance trading protocols.”
Under the proposal, certain protocols that appear decentralized but remain subject to meaningful control by individuals or coordinated groups could face registration requirements.
The bill describes such control broadly, including the ability to materially alter a protocol’s functionality, operations or consensus rules.
Those platforms would be required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC and Treasury would also be directed to develop regulations governing the category.
The addition addresses concerns raised during Democratic negotiations over whether protocols claiming decentralization could avoid obligations applied to conventional trading platforms.
A crypto industry source told The Block that Democrats had sought the new language during negotiations.
The revision does not appear to have resolved the wider partisan dispute.
Politico reported that the latest text currently lacks Democratic support, creating uncertainty over whether Republicans can assemble the votes needed to move the legislation forward.
The bill’s ethics provisions remain one of the main points of contention.
President Donald Trump agreed in July to language barring public officials, government employees and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
The restriction would be enforced by the Justice Department and expire in January 2029.
Democrats have argued that those protections do not go far enough.
Their concerns center partly on Trump’s expanding financial interests connected with crypto businesses and assets, including World Liberty Financial and the TRUMP memecoin.
Democratic lawmakers, joined by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, have proposed separate ethics language.
The revised Republican bill does not make major changes to that section and continues to give the Justice Department primary enforcement authority.
That leaves one of the most politically sensitive disputes surrounding the bill unresolved less than a week before the procedural vote.
The legislation has also faced pressure from banks and crypto companies over stablecoin rewards.
Traditional banking groups have argued that yield or rewards associated with stablecoins could pull deposits away from regulated banks.
Crypto companies have pushed back against restrictions they say could limit competition and prevent consumers from receiving benefits attached to digital-asset products.
Illicit finance controls have created another area of disagreement as lawmakers debate how anti-money laundering requirements should apply across exchanges, wallets and decentralized systems.
The revised bill attempts to narrow some of its DeFi provisions.
Lummis said the updated language specifies that those provisions apply to “spot and cash digital commodity transactions.”
The clarification was designed partly to address concerns from tribal governments about the legislation’s potential effect on prediction markets.
The revised text also includes changes involving the ability of credit unions to conduct crypto-related activities.
Those adjustments reflect the growing complexity of the legislation as senators attempt to settle questions extending beyond the division of authority between financial regulators.
At its core, the Clarity Act is intended to establish clearer federal rules for digital assets and determine when crypto products fall under commodities regulation.
The legislation could expand the CFTC’s role over digital commodity markets while establishing registration requirements for companies operating in the sector.
Supporters argue that legislation would offer more durable rules than relying on regulatory agencies to interpret existing securities and commodities laws.
Lummis has repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass the legislation before she leaves Congress in January 2027.
She is not seeking another term.
The Wyoming senator has argued that the US risks allowing jurisdictions such as Singapore and the UAE to take the lead in writing rules for digital-asset markets if Congress fails to act.
Timing now presents another challenge.
The Senate has a limited legislative window before the end of the year, and failure to move the bill quickly could push market-structure legislation into another Congress.
The September 15 procedural vote will therefore serve as an early test of whether negotiations have produced enough support to keep the legislation moving.
Even if the bill clears that hurdle, lawmakers would still need to resolve differences over ethics, stablecoin rewards, illicit finance and the treatment of decentralized platforms.
The revised text shows Republicans are willing to incorporate some Democratic requests.
Whether those changes are enough to produce the bipartisan coalition needed for final passage remains unclear.
