The US Senate is set to vote this Tuesday, September 15 at 2:15 PM Washington time, or 8:15 PM in Paris, on the progress of the CLARITY Act, presented as a major text aimed at establishing a
The US Senate is set to vote this Tuesday, September 15 at 2:15 PM Washington time, or 8:15 PM in Paris, on the progress of the CLARITY Act, presented as a major text aimed at establishing a comprehensive framework for crypto markets in the United States. This procedural vote requires 60 votes to allow the bill to continue its legislative journey. Republicans, who hold 53 seats in the Senate, will therefore need to gain support from several Democrats or independents. A failure would strongly compromise the adoption of the bill before the end of 2026.
The Senate has never voted in a full session on an overall text regarding crypto markets, fourteen months after the green light from the House (294-134) and four months after that of the banking committee (15-9). While the Republicans play their last card, the vote is not on the substance but on the cloture, the procedure that ends obstruction and authorizes debate.
With 53 seats out of 100, Majority Leader John Thune must secure at least seven Democratic votes, more if some of his own defect. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, the only Democrats to have supported him in committee, are not enough.
Without 60 votes, the text has virtually no chance of returning before the November 2026 midterms, and the next legislature would start from scratch.
Published Sunday night, the final text includes 126 amendments demanded by Democrats, presented as their “last and best offer”. The ethics section incorporates about 80% of the counter-proposal from Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego.
Donald Trump would have agreed to relinquish his crypto interests or place them in a blind trust, a vehicle managed by an independent trustee without the elected official retaining control, according to TheStreet. Chuck Schumer convened his caucus immediately after.
The compromise has a downside. The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which prevented equating an open-source software developer with a money transmission business, now only covers civil lawsuits. Republicans removed the criminal shield from section 1960, the one that struck Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet.
A circuit breaker would allow Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to restrict certain rewards on stablecoins if community bank deposits migrated massively to them, for a maximum of eighteen months. The mechanism extends the GENIUS Act, the 2025 law governing the issuance of these dollar-backed assets.
Coinbase and Circle, issuer of USDC, would emerge strengthened by a clear federal framework after years of regulation by enforcement. Retail sentiment remained “extremely bearish” on CRCL and “bearish” on COIN on Stocktwits on the eve of the vote, while bettors on Kalshi and Polymarket raised the probability of the bill’s progress.
A “yes” would only be a beginning: the text should be debated, amended, then reconciled with the House. A “no” would maintain the jurisdictional status quo between the SEC and the CFTC, while the European Union applies MiCA since 2024.
The verdict will fall during an already busy week: Bitcoin approaches Fed week with a much less exposed market, enough to cushion a rejection as well as temper a green light. The stake goes beyond the current price: without the CLARITY Act, the fate of the US sector will remain suspended to regulators and judges until after the midterms.
