The Senate Banking Committee approved the CLARITY Act on Thursday in a 15-9 vote, sending the crypto market structure bill to the full Senate after months of bipartisan negotiations.
All 13 Republicans on the committee voted in favor, joined by Senators Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks. The vote marks the most significant Senate action to date on legislation aimed at defining how digital assets are regulated in the United States.
Two democrats back the bill, with reservations
Gallego and Alsobrooks both stressed that their committee votes should not be interpreted as unconditional support for final passage.
Alsobrooks said she had spent more than nine months negotiating provisions intended to protect consumers and address concerns about bank deposit flight while still allowing innovation.
“In recognition of that good faith, I have voted yes to advance the bill today,” she said, adding that unresolved issues would need to be addressed before she could support the legislation on the Senate floor.
Gallego likewise said negotiators still need to resolve ethics provisions and reconcile the Banking Committee bill with work underway in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Ethics amendment and banking concerns
One of the most closely watched amendments came from Chris Van Hollen, who proposed barring senior government officials, including the president and vice president, from maintaining certain crypto business interests.
Van Hollen said the amendment was designed to prevent conflicts of interest and improve transparency. The proposal failed in an 11-13 vote after Republicans argued that its criminal penalty provisions were outside the Banking Committee’s jurisdiction.
An effort by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to revive an amendment addressing bank concerns over potential deposit migration into stablecoins was ruled out of order and did not receive a vote. The banking industry, led by the American Bankers Association, has argued that interest-bearing stablecoins could draw deposits away from traditional banks.
Those concerns remain a point of negotiation as the legislation moves forward.
Bipartisan support for technical amendments
Several technical amendments introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis received broad bipartisan support, with some passing by margins of 18-19 votes. The votes suggested that even senators with reservations about the overall bill were willing to support narrower revisions.
Shares of crypto-related companies moved higher as the markup progressed. Coinbase gained sharply during the session, while Circle Internet Group, Galaxy Digital, and Strategy also traded higher as investors reacted to the bill’s momentum.
Meanwhile, Angus Scott, Founder of the Solana Research Institute, commented on the development in a statement to The Crypto Times, stating, “It was inevitable that financial regulation would be applied to crypto given the similarities with traditional finance, and fortunate for the industry that the first significant step was taken by a favourably disposed administration. The CLARITY Act is likely to be merely a first step down a long regulatory road rather than the last word on the subject.
He added, “The history of financial regulation since the dawn of the electronic age shows that rule-making happens as a result of changing social attitudes to risk, reward and privilege, combined with the periodic need to shut stable doors that no-one had noticed were left open. History also shows that the unintended consequences of rules are often at least as important as the intended ones.”
Next stop: The Senate floor
The CLARITY Act now heads to the Senate floor, where lawmakers are expected to continue negotiations and merge the Banking Committee’s work with parallel legislation under consideration by the Senate Agriculture Committee.
If enacted, the bill would establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital asset markets, including rules governing exchanges, broker-dealers, and token issuers.
Also Read: Sen. Tim Scott Says CLARITY Act Will End Crypto’s Regulatory Gray Zone
