Senate Republicans Have Released the Updated Clarity Act

Senate Republicans have released another updated version of the CLARITY Act following negotiations conducted during the August recess. The new 630-page Senate text, identified as EHF26718, incorporates revisions involving DeFi, digital commodity transactions and banking provisions. However, several politically sensitive sections remain substantially unchanged, keeping uncertainty high before the Sept. 15 procedural vote.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett said the latest version leaves the ethics, Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act and stablecoin-yield sections unchanged from the previous draft. Those areas have been central to negotiations between Republicans, Democrats, banks and crypto companies for months. The lack of movement on them could complicate efforts to assemble the 60 votes generally required for cloture.

CLARITY Act Draft Leaves Major Disputes Unchanged

Senator Lummis Claims Updated Clarity Act Includes Over 100 Changes by Democrats

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis, who released the latest version of the bill, noted that it reflects bipartisan hard work during the August recess. According to her, the new version contains over 100 changes requested by Democrats.

She added that Democrats got almost everything they asked for with the new version of the Clarity Act, claiming they secured over 115 wins in texts.

“They demanded the felony bar on fraudsters, $150M for the CFTC, the crackdown on platforms like Binance, and they got almost everything they asked for,” she said.

Other provisions of the Clarity Act include registration requirements for non-decentralized protocols that market themselves as DeFi. Under the rules, such protocols must now register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The updates also limit DeFi provisions to spot and cash digital-commodity transactions and clarify credit unions’ authority to engage in crypto.

The senator is now calling on Democrats to vote for the Clarity Act, noting that it is the bill they built. “Anything less is walking away from their own work,” Lummis said.

What is Next for the Clarity Act?

With Senate Republicans publishing the latest version of the Clarity Act, all eyes will be on Capitol Hill to see what happens between now and September 15, when the Senate vote will take place.

While Senator Lummis and other stakeholders, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have been pushing heavily for the bill to pass, its fate hangs in the hands of Senate Democrats.

Many have previously said they will not vote for the proposed legislation without changes to the ethics provisions. However, there have been no comments yet from Democrats on the new version, and it is unclear whether there would be any major amendments before the vote.

Unsurprisingly, Polymarket reflects the uncertainty around the Clarity Act, with odds jumping from 16% to 19%.

Meanwhile, there are concerns that if the bill fails to pass before midterms, it could mark the end of pro-crypto legislation, especially if Democrats take control of the House.

Interestingly, one of the biggest supporters of the Clarity  Act, Senator Cynthia Lummis, will not be returning to the Senate in 2027 as she is not seeking re-election.