The CLARITY Act, considered a key piece for establishing clear rules for the cryptocurrency market in the United States, may be entering its most critical phase. The Senate has only 15 sessions remaining before the August recess — five of them already next week —, which turns the coming days into a true race against time.
Despite the tight schedule, there are signs of optimism. Representative Bryan Steil said he believes concrete progress can be achieved. If the U.S. finally moves toward clear regulation of the sector, the market reaction could be significant.
Vote could take place as early as this week
A decisive vote in the Senate could happen in the coming days. The chamber's majority leader, John Thune, guaranteed that it will take place, at the latest, by August 10.
Even so, bets on approval remain cautious. The prediction platform Polymarket estimates the chances of Clarity Act being approved this year at only 40%. The drop in expectations came after a series of Democratic senators — including Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen — publicly came out against the bill.
Warren pressures Trump to disclose his crypto gains
One of the main obstacles to the bill's progress is the action of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is trying to block the vote by drawing attention to the volume of resources that President Donald Trump is said to have raised from the sector.
Warren demanded that Trump voluntarily disclose, by July 23, all of his cryptocurrency holdings and income obtained between January 1 and July 15. The demand gained momentum after the president's 2025 disclosure pointed to gains exceeding one billion dollars from cryptocurrencies in the previous year.
The controversy calls Democratic support into question: without a clause prohibiting elected officials from promoting or issuing cryptocurrencies, it is unlikely that senators from the party will vote in favor of the bill.
"Ethics is the big elephant in the room"
For the sector, the risk is that the political dispute contaminates the entire rest of the proposal. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association and former commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), summed up the mood by saying that "ethics is the big elephant in the room."
She sought to separate the political debate from the regulatory agenda advocated by the industry: "For my members and for what we defend in Congress... whatever decision they make on ethics, that does not concern us. That is politics, it is a matter for Congress, for elected representatives. But please, do not let that destroy all the hard work we have dedicated to the rest of the bill."
In the coming days, the Senate will have to decide whether it can reconcile political pressures with the market's demand for clear rules — or whether the CLARITY Act will enter the August recess without a resolution.