Newest version of crypto Clarity Act may drop as soon as next week, sources say

The U.S. Senate legislation that would regulate the crypto industry is wobbling forward in what are likely its final days as a viable effort for 2026, and advocates expect a new draft could emerge as soon as next week for potential Senate action later in the month.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has just a few weeks left to advance in the Senate before the chamber's calendar and wider congressional politics leave its chances close to zero, but those briefed on the negotiations say they've seen some headway, including a new text that's come together in the merger of the efforts from the two relevant Senate committees: Banking and Agriculture.

However, legislative staffers signalled that the effort hasn't yet secured Democratic buy-in it'll need, despite much of the latest material representing a response to their concerns.

The unified version of the Clarity Act — which is said by one person to have had more than 70 pages of text added — hasn't yet solidified a position on the major sticking point: A Democrat-demanded restriction keeping senior government officials (including the president) from maintaining business ties with the crypto sector. Without a compromise on such ethics limits, several lawmakers have said they won't vote yes on a final bill.

The merged text that may be released next week will not represent a simple combination of the two bills the respective committees voted to approve earlier this year. Both committees' members negotiated on outstanding issues — the Agriculture Committee more so, given that bill was voted out of committee on strictly partisan lines — and the updated bill is said to reflect the results of that process, putting more emphasis on consumer protections.

The bill's advocates expect it to reach the Senate floor as soon as the week of July 20, though the lawmakers have a lot of work left.

Beyond ethics, outstanding issues include federal preemption, and negotiators still need to come to a final agreement on filling the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Earlier Thursday, the White House sent a letter to Senators John Thune and Chuck Schumer, respectively the majority and minority heads in the Senate, saying Democrats had not put forward any names for the minority roles on these commissions.