TL;DR
- The SEC, under Paul Atkins’ leadership, expects the Senate to vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15.
- The law would establish a framework to classify digital assets as securities, commodities, or stablecoins, depending on their nature.
- Disputes over customer yields and ethical language in the text keep the bill in an unstable political equilibrium.
Paul Atkins, chairman of the SEC, stated in an interview with Fox Business that he expects the Senate to vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15 and that he is confident the bill will reach the president’s desk for signature. The vote was postponed before the August recess, though approval in the upper chamber remains uncertain.
The SEC Works to Modernize the Market
The bill’s content is as significant as its timeline. The CLARITY Act seeks to establish a regulatory framework to classify digital assets as securities, commodities, or stablecoins. Atkins also said the agency’s work aims to update and modernize the rules for the blockchain and crypto asset era.
Additionally, the SEC submitted a proposal to the White House last week aimed at clarifying the custody regime for crypto assets held by investment advisers and firms, a sign that regulators are moving forward on parts of the agenda independently of the legislative calendar.
The Disputes Stalling the CLARITY Act
The bill’s parliamentary path has been riddled with setbacks. Although the House of Representatives passed the CLARITY Act last year, the text remains blocked. The main trigger was the clash between the banking lobby and legislators and companies in the crypto sector over whether platforms like Coinbase should be allowed to pay yields to their customers.
The debate over the bill’s ethical language is also generating tension: a draft that began circulating in July would prohibit government officials from promoting crypto assets or financially benefiting from them, but several Democratic lawmakers considered the restriction insufficient. Republicans favorable to the crypto sector, for their part, accused Democrats of stalling the process for political reasons.
The next key moment is the date announced by Atkins. The outcome depends on a vote that has yet to take place and negotiations that have not yet concluded.
