- Republicans are pushing for a cloture vote to ensure that the CLARITY Act proceeds to a final vote immediately after the August recess.
- It follows strong opposition from Democrats over the bill’s contentious provisions, particularly on its ethics language.
Tension is running high on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act debate. Democratic Party lawmakers are reportedly pushing to delay the vote on the landmark legislation while their counterparts in the Republican Party aim to use cloture to end the filibuster and force a vote after the August recess.
Delay After Delay on the CLARITY Act Vote
Citing two people familiar with the matter, Politico claimed that Majority Leader Senator John Thune has punted the CLARITY Act, delaying its vote until Congress resumes its session on September 14. However, his group seeks cloture, a procedural mechanism requiring at least 60 votes to limit debate, end a filibuster, and advance legislation to a final vote.
Thune stated that Democratic Party senators “insisted on no CLARITY vote.” So, the best way forward would be to queue it up first thing when sessions resume after the recess.
The group’s key contention remains in the bill’s ethics provisions to curb the Trump family’s continued involvement in the crypto industry, which they argued was rife with conflicts of interest. The Democrats proposed a restriction on crypto trading or business interest among top elected and appointed government officials.
Three people with knowledge of the matter revealed to the same source that a new counteroffer following another round of talks with the White House led to language that would force affected officials to divest any ownership stake in a digital asset company if it exceeds $1 million or more than 10% of the firm’s market valuation.
Other major concerns lay in the CLARITY Act’s safe harbor component for open-source software developers and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance issues. On the side, legacy banks continue to lobby for a stronger ban on stablecoin yields.
Key figures in crypto circles expressed their dismay over the CLARITY Act’s failure to proceed to a vote, which would delay it again to more than a month. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was among them, reminding the public that the Senate had the ball on the bill for a year now.
Armstrong highlighted that the never-ending negotiations have already bloated the bill to more than one hundred pages of revisions. He urged senators to advance the CLARITY Act to a vote as millions of American crypto holders are watching.
Coinbase notably walked out on the CLARITY Act negotiations early this year in protest over its provisions, which it believes would be detrimental for the crypto industry. Along the way, Armstrong firmly opposed its de facto ban on tokenized equities, stablecoin yield restrictions, decentralized finance (DeFi) prohibitions, unfair rules against open-source developers, overarching authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and potential government surveillance.
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