U.S. Senate Republicans on Sept. 10 released a revised version of the Clarity Act, with less than a week remaining before a key procedural vote on Sept. 15. According to Decrypt, the new draft unveiled by Cynthia Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets panel, spans 630 pages and makes its biggest changes in DeFi provisions and the treatment of credit unions.
Revised draft targets protocols that are decentralized in name only
The new text addresses crypto trading protocols described as only nominally decentralized, meaning protocols that in practice remain under the control of specific individuals or groups. It would require those protocols to register with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC.
The bill also directs the CFTC and the U.S. Treasury Department to develop rules for trading protocols that can be controlled by an individual or group, or materially changed by them. CoinDesk reported that the revised text also spells out more clearly when DeFi projects must register with the CFTC and comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, while giving credit unions a clearer place in digital asset business activities.
Lummis says the DeFi language was narrowed
Lummis said on X that the latest version narrows the reach of the DeFi provisions so they apply only to spot and cash transactions in digital commodities. Prediction markets were excluded, she said, in response to concerns raised by Native Americans about those markets.
The ethics section is largely unchanged from the July version. It would bar public officials, employees, and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
Republicans say Democratic requests were added, but support is still missing
Lummis said, 「We incorporated more than 114 individual provisions at the request of our Democratic colleagues, so this is a strong bipartisan bill.」
She added on X: 「They asked for felony thresholds for fraudsters, they asked for $150 million for the CFTC, they asked to go after platforms like Binance, and they got nearly everything they wanted. Now they should vote for the bill they helped build, or walk away from their own work.」
Democrats have not backed the revised bill so far. Decrypt, citing Politico, reported that no Democratic senator currently supports the latest version. The party has been pushing for broader restrictions to address President Trump’s own crypto-related financial interests. Chain News had previously reported that seven Democratic senators criticized the Clarity Act’s ethics provisions in July as insufficient.
Sept. 15 procedural vote needs 60 senators
CoinDesk said the Sept. 15 Tuesday vote is a procedural motion to advance the bill and requires support from 60 senators. That means the measure needs bipartisan backing. If the motion fails, the bill cannot move forward.
If the bill ultimately passes, it would draw the line between the jurisdictions of the CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and would reopen a path for crypto startups to raise money through token sales.
A July 22 press release from Lummis’ office said the bill passed the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 vote. The July version combined work from the banking and agriculture committees.
Stablecoin yield remains unresolved
Another issue still unsettled is stablecoin yield. Decrypt reported that the crypto industry and community banks have recently shifted lobbying efforts to senators’ home states. Industry group Stand With Crypto said supporters contacted members of Congress nearly 50,000 times in August.
Banks have also stepped up their push. CoinDesk reported that the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and 77 state banking associations sent a joint letter to Congress on Sept. 10 asking for tighter limits on the incentives stablecoin firms can offer.