Senate Crypto Clarity Act: New Draft Expected Next Week as July Deadline Nears

TLDR

• A new draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could drop as early as next week
• The bill still lacks Democratic support, mainly over ethics rules for government officials in crypto
• Three unresolved issues remain: developer protections, anti-money laundering exemptions, and stablecoin rewards
• CFTC Chair warns regulators may write crypto rules themselves if Congress fails to act
• The Senate has a narrow window — a few weeks in July and early August — to pass the bill

---

A new version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could be released as early as next week, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The bill aims to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States.

LATEST: 🇺🇸 A new CLARITY Act draft could drop as soon as next week, but Democrats have not signed on as the Senate races to act before its August recess, CoinDesk reports. https://t.co/0Z5ILMAq82 pic.twitter.com/JZhRr7PfZF

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) July 10, 2026

The merged text combines work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. It is said to include more than 70 pages of new material, with added focus on consumer protections.

However, the bill still does not have the Democratic support it needs to pass. The Senate requires 60 votes to advance the legislation, meaning a number of Democrats must get on board.

The main sticking point is an ethics provision. Democrats want to restrict senior government officials — including the president — from holding business ties to the crypto sector. No compromise has been reached yet.

Some ideas have been floated, such as allowing state attorneys general to bring lawsuits over ethics violations. But progress on this issue has been slow.

Three Key Issues Still Unresolved

Beyond ethics, three other disputes are holding up the bill.

The first involves the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, a section that would protect non-custodial software developers from being classified as money transmitters. Senator Ron Wyden supports keeping this language, but some law enforcement groups want changes.

The second issue is Section 604, which would exempt certain software developers and infrastructure providers from money transmitter rules. Critics say this could weaken anti-money laundering tools.

The third dispute is over stablecoin rewards. Lawmakers are debating whether platforms like Coinbase should be allowed to offer customers rewards on stablecoin holdings, which the separate GENIUS Act currently prohibits.

The White House also pushed back this week on Democratic claims that it was blocking nominations to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The White House said it asked for Democratic recommendations but received no names.

Both parties agree the agencies should have full leadership before major crypto rules move forward.

Senator Cynthia Lummis called this “likely our last chance to get real legislation for digital assets on the books before 2030.” CFTC Chair Michael Selig warned that if Congress does not act, regulators could end up writing all the rules for crypto themselves.

The Senate returns from recess on July 14. A floor vote could come as early as the week of July 20. After that, the bill would still need House approval and the president’s signature.

The overall crypto market was up 1% on Thursday, reaching around $2.2 trillion.