Senate Republicans have circulated a revised version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, but the bill still faces a difficult path to passage because it will need at least 60 votes to advance.
The new draft was distributed on Thursday after the August Congressional recess. Following the news, Polymarket bettors raised the likelihood of the legislation passing this year from 16% to 19%.
Cynthia Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee, said the latest document included extensive changes to the CLARITY Act.
“This updated Clarity Act text reflects bipartisan hard work over Augustspecifying when decentralized-in-name-only DeFi protocols must register with the CFTC and limiting the DeFi provisions to spot and cash transactions, in response to Native American concerns about prediction markets,” Lummis said.
The legislation remains H.R. 3633, the market-structure bill that has already passed the House. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed to advance the measure on 8 August.
The Senate is due to return on 14 September, with the first major test expected the following day. Senators are scheduled to vote on whether to move the bill forward at 2:15 p.m. EDT on Monday, 15 September.
A minimum of 60 votes will be required. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning they would need the support of at least seven Democrats even if every Republican backed the bill.
Key changes to the draft
Reporter Eleanor Terrett, who obtained a copy of the revised text, outlined several of its main policy changes.
The bill would require non-decentralized DeFi protocols to register with the CFTC, a provision that mirrors Section 10301 of the Banking Committee portion of the legislation, Terrett wrote on X.
It would also restrict the DeFi provisions to spot or cash digital commodity transactions. That change appears intended to address concerns from Native American tribes about blockchain-based prediction markets, according to Terrett.
The draft further clarifies the authority of credit unions to deal in crypto.
Polymarket’s CLARITY Act market, which tracks whether the bill will pass this year, moved up by a few percentage points after the revised text emerged. The probability had fallen to 16% earlier on Thursday before reaching 19% at 3:40 p.m. EDT.
Although the draft contains roughly 100 changes, it remains uncertain whether the revisions will attract enough Democratic support. Concerns from tribal gaming groups over prediction markets have influenced the wider crypto legislation, but disagreements over how digital assets should be regulated remain.
Lummis continues to express hope that an agreement can be reached. Eight days before the Senate’s 15 September cloture vote, former federal prosecutor Mariotti also said lawmakers and congressional staff had sent a message, although the source article does not provide the substance of that message.
