- Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, released a revised 630-page draft of the Clarity Act that would require crypto trading protocols controlled by identifiable people or groups to register with the CFTC.
- The bill would set a federal framework for digital assets and divide oversight between the CFTC and the SEC; Lummis says the text now includes more than 114 provisions requested by Democrats.
- A procedural vote is set for September 15 and needs 60 senators to advance, and its path through the chamber remains uncertain.
Senate Republicans unveiled a revised, 630-page draft of the Clarity Act that would require crypto trading protocols controlled by identifiable people or groups to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, days before a procedural vote scheduled for September 15.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who leads the effort, calls the target “decentralized-in-name-only” protocols.
The text creates a category for non-decentralised trading protocols, defined by whether their functions, operation or consensus rules can be controlled or modified by an identifiable individual or group, and layers anti-money-laundering duties on those that qualify.
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Dividing the Regulators’ Roles
The Clarity Act, formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, would build a federal framework for digital assets and split oversight between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The House passed the bill 294 to 134 in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15 to 9 in May. The revised text merges the work of the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees, whose chairs, Tim Scott and John Boozman, are steering the two halves. Republicans are amending that existing measure through a substitute.
Lummis, who chairs the Senate Banking subcommittee on digital assets, said the draft reflects “bipartisan hard work over August” and incorporates “more than 114 separate provisions at my Democrat colleagues’ request”.
It limits the DeFi rules to spot and cash transactions in digital commodities, which she said answers tribal governments’ concerns about prediction markets, and clarifies how credit unions handle crypto.
The September 15 vote is a cloture motion on whether to take up the bill, and it needs 60 senators to pass, so Republicans need Democratic support to move forward. It is unclear whether they have the votes. Seven Senate Democrats have said the text “falls short” on ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity.
The bill has been stuck in the Senate for more than a year, held up in part by a fight over whether stablecoin holders can earn interest. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has backed the September 15 vote, senators have floated a stablecoin-yield compromise to revive it, and analysts have given it long odds of clearing the chamber.
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