- SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said on Sept. 2 that the Senate will hold a Sept. 15 cloture vote on the CLARITY Act, and that he hopes the crypto market structure bill passes and reaches President Donald Trump’s desk.
- The Senate filed a motion to proceed to the bill, H.R. 3633, and a cloture motion on Aug. 8, too late to vote before its five-week recess; ending debate requires 60 votes.
- The SEC separately proposed its own Regulation Crypto Assets on Aug. 18, with registration exemptions of up to US$5 million (AU$7 million) and US$75 million (AU$105 million), and Atkins said the agency can act under existing law if Congress stalls.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the Senate will vote on the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15, a procedural test that could clear the way for final passage of a crypto market structure bill stuck in the chamber for more than a year.
Atkins made the comments in an interview, stating: “I anticipate and hope that it will be passed by the Senate and sent ultimately to the President’s desk for a signature.” That vote is a cloture vote on the motion to proceed, the first floor test the measure has faced.
The Senate set up that vote on Aug. 8, when it made a motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 and filed a cloture motion, days before senators left for a five-week recess.
Cloture needs 60 votes, and Republicans hold a narrow majority, so the bill will need Democratic support to advance. The House passed it 294-134 in July 2025, and it has sat on the Senate calendar since June.
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Democrats Say the Text Falls Short
Democrats have resisted the Republican-written bill. Seven Senate Democrats said in a joint statement that the current text “falls short”, with provisions on ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity that “must be strengthened”.
Investment bank TD Cowen has given the bill roughly one-in-three odds of clearing the Senate, and momentum stalled through the northern summer over whether stablecoin holders should be allowed to earn interest.
The SEC’s Own Rulebook
Atkins is advancing crypto rules at the SEC alongside the legislation. The agency proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on Aug. 18, creating two exemptions from Securities Act registration. One covers offerings of up to US$5 million (AU$7 million) over four years; the other covers up to US$75 million (AU$105 million) over 12 months.
The proposal also adds a conditional safe harbor that would deem qualifying crypto assets not to be investment contracts, and therefore not securities, and it is open for public comment for 60 days.
In a post, Atkins called the proposal “our most historic step yet to cement America as the Crypto Capital of the World”. He has said the SEC can act under existing securities law if the bill does not pass.
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