The Senate’s crypto market structure fight is entering its final stretch. Sources familiar with the negotiations told sources familiar with this matter on Thursday that a new merged draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could arrive as soon as next week, with advocates eyeing floor action the week of July 20.
What the New Draft Includes
The updated text combines the Senate Banking and Senate Agriculture Committee bills into a single package, with reportedly more than 70 pages of new material. It is not a simple copy-paste. Members from both committees renegotiated outstanding issues, with the Agriculture Committee putting in more work since its bill had cleared the committee on strict party lines. The revised version is said to lean harder into consumer protections.
The Ethics Standoff Is Still the Big One
The merged draft has not settled the biggest Democratic demand, a restriction that would bar senior government officials, including President Donald Trump, from maintaining business ties with the crypto sector. Several lawmakers have said they will not vote yes without it. One idea floated in talks would let state attorneys general sue over ethics violations, but progress has slowed.
The pressure was amplified after Trump’s July 1 financial disclosure showed the family cleared more than $1.2 billion from crypto in 2025.
SEC and CFTC Vacancies Add Another Layer
Federal preemption is still unsettled, and the SEC and CFTC vacancies remain in dispute. The White House sent a letter Thursday to Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying Democrats had not put forward names for the minority commission seats. Democrats had earlier accused the White House of leaving independent agency positions open indefinitely.
The Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, allowing the president to remove independent agency commissioners at will, has further complicated Democratic leverage. Notably, the White House has not signed off on the merged text or engaged in the latest round of negotiations.
Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to Senate leadership Wednesday supporting the bill’s handling of legal protections for developers under the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, the section that shields crypto developers from being treated as money transmitters when they do not custody user funds. Preserving the BRCA has been the DeFi sector’s top ask throughout these talks.
The Math and the Clock
The bill needs 60 votes to clear cloture, meaning at least seven Democrats must cross over. Even Senators Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, the two Democrats who advanced the bill in committee, have said their floor support depends on the ethics fix.
The Senate has three weeks in July left, plus the first week of August before recess, and a defense spending bill could eat into floor time. After that, attention shifts to the midterms.
Even if the Senate passes the merged text, the House would still need to approve it before it reaches Trump’s desk. The House has been slowed by Republican infighting, and Trump is currently holding up the bipartisan housing bill while pushing his voting rules demands, adding uncertainty to any final signing timeline.
Lummis Keeps the Pressure Public
Ahead of the expected draft release, Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on X on July 9, warning that every month without clear digital asset rules is a month another country writes them for the U.S.
On July 1, she defended the bill’s safeguards, saying Clarity contains more than 16 illicit finance provisions, including applying the Bank Secrecy Act to crypto, new sanctions targeting Iran, and authority for exchanges to freeze illicit funds.
For now, the expected draft release, the July 20 floor timeline, and the shape of any final ethics compromise remain based on what sources close to the process are saying. Nothing has been officially confirmed by the Senate, the committees, or the White House.
Also Read: Sen Lummis Warns CLARITY Act Inaction Hands Global Rulebook to Foreign Powers
