Senate Banking Committee Schedules May 14 Vote on CLARITY Act in Major Progress
Next week, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a crucial vote on the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to establish clearer regulatory guidelines for the cryptocurrency sector in the United States.
The CLARITY Act, a piece of legislation designed to bring enhanced regulatory transparency to the cryptocurrency industry in the United States, is scheduled for consideration by the Senate Banking Committee this Thursday.
Tim Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, announced on Friday that the bill would proceed to a vote on Thursday, sparking considerable enthusiasm throughout the cryptocurrency sector, where stakeholders have been anticipating a new markup date for several months.
First unveiled in July 2025, the proposed legislation was anticipated to advance during the early months of this year, but encountered obstacles in January when Coinbase retracted its endorsement of the bill. The company raised multiple objections, including insufficient legal safeguards for developers working on open source software, restrictions on stablecoin yield offerings, and concerns regarding decentralized finance (DeFi) regulatory provisions.
CLARITY Act is "on like Donkey Kong": Coinbase exec
"It's on like Donkey Kong," Paul Grewel, who serves as Coinbase's chief legal officer, declared in a Friday post on X, responding to the announcement. At the same time, Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer at Coinbase, wrote in his own X post that this represented a "big step forward" and emphasized that the legislation is critical "for protecting consumers, supporting innovation, and ensuring this technology develops in the United States rather than offshore."
The ambiguous nature of cryptocurrency regulations during Joe Biden's presidential term, which saw crypto skeptic Gary Gensler at the helm of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was connected to numerous accounts of cryptocurrency companies moving their operations offshore to jurisdictions with more favorable crypto policies. Those within the industry contended that this regulatory uncertainty was stifling innovation throughout the United States.
Cynthia Lummis, a US Senator known for her pro-crypto stance, expressed her support in an X post, stating, "Let's pass the Clarity Act out of the Banking Committee on Thursday!"
Industry execs had predicted the markup would take place
The announcement arrives only a few days following comments made by Kara Calvert, who holds the position of vice president of US policy at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Speaking to participants at the Consensus 2026 conference, she indicated that she anticipated "a markup next week."
According to Calvert, the legislation requires a minimum of 60 votes for Senate passage, and she stressed that the CLARITY bill must secure bipartisan support in order to be enacted into law.