Ripple CEO Warns Senate Against Abandoning Clarity Act Over Policy Disputes

In Brief:

• Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse urged senators to preserve the Clarity Act, emphasizing compromises achieved through months of bipartisan negotiation talks.
• Republicans incorporated more than 100 Democratic changes, but Warner, Gallego, and Warren’s staff maintained their opposition to the revised proposal.
• A failed cloture vote would not kill the bill, although delays could make securing its enactment during 2026 considerably harder.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has urged senators to preserve the Clarity Act despite unresolved disagreements surrounding its provisions. According to Garlinghouse’s Tuesday post on X, the legislation contains substantial compromises developed through several months of negotiations between lawmakers.

He argued that policymakers made meaningful policy trades while preparing the current version of the cryptocurrency market structure bill. Therefore, senators should not treat the proposal as an inadequate package that lawmakers must reluctantly accept.

“This bill isn’t just a compromise,” Garlinghouse wrote, describing the text as a product of substantive exchanges among policymakers.

This bill isn’t just a compromise…it’s the product of real, substantive trades policymakers made to get here. I said this many months ago: perfect can’t be the enemy of good… and let’s be clear: those trades weren’t small. This isn’t a deal Senators should be ‘settling for’ —… https://t.co/mdLvqKVXjG

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) September 14, 2026

Moreover, he repeated his earlier position that perfect legislation should not become the enemy of achievable regulatory progress. Garlinghouse directed his remarks toward Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has also encouraged lawmakers to advance the proposal.

The bill seeks to establish clearer federal rules for digital assets and allocate responsibilities between major financial regulators. Its passage could provide cryptocurrency businesses with greater certainty concerning registration, compliance, trading, and consumer protection requirements. However, resistance from several Democratic senators has weakened expectations for the bill’s advancement through the Senate.

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Democratic Resistance Threatens Negotiated Crypto Framework

Republicans released a heavily revised Clarity Act over the weekend following extensive negotiations with their Democratic counterparts. The updated package reportedly incorporated more than 100 substantive changes requested by Democrats during negotiations over contested provisions.

Additionally, lawmakers recorded progress on one difficult issue, briefly improving confidence across the cryptocurrency industry and prediction markets. Polymarket traders raised the bill’s estimated chance of becoming law in 2026 from the low twenties to roughly 35%.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz also expressed confidence that lawmakers could still secure enough support for the legislation. Nevertheless, expectations weakened when several Democratic senators indicated that the revised package failed to resolve their main concerns.

Senator Mark Warner argued that Republican concessions did not extend far enough to win sufficient support from Democratic lawmakers. Likewise, Senator Ruben Gallego maintained that important weaknesses remained within the legislation despite the numerous negotiated revisions. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Banking Committee staff also circulated arguments opposing the compromise, adding pressure around the procedural process.

Cloture Vote Could Determine the Bill’s Path

Meanwhile, Polymarket estimates dropped toward the high teens as traders assessed the growing opposition among Senate Democrats. The Senate expects to hold a cloture vote on the motion to proceed, which would permit formal debate.

A failed vote would not formally terminate the Clarity Act because lawmakers could reopen negotiations and pursue another procedural attempt. However, another extended delay could narrow the legislative calendar and make enactment during 2026 considerably more difficult.

Garlinghouse wants senators to recognize the negotiated gains instead of discarding the entire framework over remaining policy differences. His intervention places Ripple among prominent cryptocurrency companies pressing Congress to establish comprehensive digital asset market rules. The procedural vote will show whether months of negotiations created enough common ground for the legislation to advance.

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