SEC Chair Paul Atkins says he hopes the CLARITY Act can move through the Senate within the next two weeks, ahead of a crucial procedural vote on 15 September that could determine whether the delayed crypto market structure bill remains on course to reach President Donald Trump’s desk.
Atkins made the comments in a post discussing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s work on digital asset regulation. He said the SEC was preparing a regulatory framework that could operate alongside the legislation, including exemptions for certain fundraising activities and other parts of the crypto market.
The agency is seeking public comments before deciding whether to adopt final rules.
Atkins said the SEC could rely on powers already available under federal securities laws if Congress does not complete the bill. However, he argued that legislation would provide a stronger and more lasting legal foundation because a future commission could find it more difficult to reverse rules based on an act of Congress.
“Our goal is to get them adopted, to get them taken up by the industry,” Atkins said.
He also stressed the importance of congressional action, adding: “what we really do need though is statutory grounding.”
The next test comes with a cloture vote scheduled for 15 September. According to the official Senate timetable, the motion relating to H.R. 3633 will become eligible for consideration at 2:15 p.m. ET.
A cloture vote would not amount to final approval of the CLARITY Act. Instead, senators would decide whether to end the procedural delay and allow the bill to proceed towards floor debate, amendments and a later vote on passage. The motion requires 60 votes, meaning support from both parties is necessary in the closely divided Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed the cloture motion on the motion to proceed before lawmakers left Washington for their August recess. If it fails to secure 60 votes, the Senate would not be able to move directly to a final vote under the current timetable.
Despite Atkins’ estimate that the bill could advance within two weeks, uncertainty remains over whether lawmakers can complete the legislation this year. The Senate is also approaching a period when preparations for the midterm elections could occupy more of its schedule.
John Darsie, chief executive of SALT, said he remained unconvinced that the measure would pass in 2026.
“Personally, I’m somewhat bearish on the CLARITY Act passing,” Darsie said, pointing to the political timetable before the midterm elections.
Prediction-market traders on Kalshi placed the probability of the legislation becoming law in 2026 at 49%, leaving opinion on the platform almost evenly divided. That figure reflects traders’ expectations and is not an independent assessment of the bill’s legal or political prospects.
The legislation has already faced repeated delays. The House of Representatives approved it by 294 votes to 134 in July 2025, while the Senate Banking Committee advanced its version by 15 votes to nine in May 2026. The committee’s official record shows that two Democrats joined its 13 Republicans in support.
Republicans hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats and therefore cannot reach the cloture threshold without help from Democrats. Opposition to, or uncertainty about, the bill among some Republican senators would mean party leaders need to secure more Democratic support than they received at the Banking Committee stage.
The bill’s timetable became more difficult in August, when senators left Washington without holding a floor vote. Senate leaders instead placed the procedural motion on the September calendar, keeping the legislation alive but leaving limited scope for any further delay.
Expectations in prediction markets have shifted significantly during the year. Polymarket traders gave the bill an 82% chance of passing in February, but that estimate had fallen to about 16% by early August after the Senate adjourned without taking action, according to earlier passage estimates. Kalshi’s more recent 49% figure suggests a substantially different view among users of that platform.
Neither prediction-market contract determines how senators will vote, and prices can change as negotiations continue.
The CLARITY Act would create federal rules for determining whether a digital asset falls under the authority of the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It would also introduce registration requirements for crypto companies and extend anti-money laundering obligations to businesses covered by the framework.
Under the proposed system, the SEC would continue to oversee digital assets regarded as securities and investment contracts. The CFTC would gain authority over qualifying digital commodities, as well as parts of the spot market that currently fall outside its traditional derivatives remit.
For US investors and crypto businesses, the division would help determine which regulator is responsible for token trading, disclosures, exchange registration and customer protections. The bill would also establish a process through which companies could demonstrate that a blockchain network had met the conditions required for a token to move from securities oversight to commodity treatment.
The current legislative framework divides digital assets into categories including commodities, investment contract assets and payment stablecoins. It also includes standards covering the segregation of customer assets, conflict disclosures and compliance requirements for trading platforms.
Several disagreements remain unresolved. Senators have debated whether companies should be permitted to pay rewards or interest to stablecoin holders, how the legislation should protect decentralised finance developers, and whether federal ethics rules should apply to public officials with crypto holdings or business interests.
A revised Senate Banking Committee draft allowed rewards linked to customer activity but restricted passive yield paid solely for holding a stablecoin. According to a review of a May draft, that version did not include the ethics provisions sought by some lawmakers.
Banking groups and crypto companies have taken opposing positions on the stablecoin proposals. Some banks say reward-bearing stablecoin products could pull deposits away from regulated lenders, while crypto firms argue that activity-based rewards should remain permitted.
Alongside the congressional process, the SEC has continued developing rules that would not depend on the CLARITY Act becoming law. Atkins said the commission could pursue exemptions and other measures using its existing authority under securities legislation.
The SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on 18 August. A comparison of the two frameworks said it included a $5m exemption for start-ups, a $75m fundraising exemption and a safe harbour that could allow certain tokens to leave securities status once they met specified conditions.
Rules introduced by the agency would not have the same permanence as legislation. A future SEC leadership team could amend or remove them through another rule-making process, which is why Atkins has argued that congressional backing is needed.
The CFTC is also preparing for the possibility that Congress does not pass the bill. Its chair, Michael Selig, said the agency would continue developing crypto market rules regardless of the CLARITY Act’s outcome, including work based on powers it already holds.
At the SEC, a separate exemption covering tokenisation could return within weeks. The proposal would allow approved platforms to test blockchain-based securities products under limited relief from existing requirements, although legal questions over the commission’s authority had previously delayed it.
The agency has also proposed updating transfer-agent rules written before blockchain-based share records were possible. Those changes would cover cyber-security, operational safeguards and the use of distributed ledgers to maintain ownership records and process securities transfers.
