Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso is the latest lawmaker to call for action on the crypto Clarity Act, though recent developments show work on the bill may be slowing.
Speaking to the Senate Thursday, Barrasso reminded lawmakers that the U.S. passed the first major digital asset bill last year, the Genius Act, and the same bipartisan work was necessary for the Clarity Act.
Lawmakers are rushing to get a vote on the Clarity Act before a five-week recess this week. Some Republicans have criticized Democrats for dragging their feet with the bill and deliberately being pernickety.
“It’s time for the Senate to build on [the Genius Act] by passing the Clarity Act,” Barrosso said.
Bipartisan work has gone into putting the bill together, and on Wednesday, Senator Thom Tillis reportedly said that the White House was reviewing the latest amendments to the bill.
But on Thursday, Punchbowl News Senior Reporter Brendan Pendersen posted on X that Tillis had said he hadn’t yet heard back from the White House, despite optimism this week and Senate Majority Leader John Thune previously telling reporters that they were hoping for a vote before the break.
Lawmakers have other proposed bills to vote on ahead of their recess and the Clarity Act seems to have been pushed back.
The bill, which would set in stone digital asset regulation in the U.S., was passed last year by the House of Representatives. It has since become a much fatter text, according to Senator Cynthia Lummis, thanks to Democrats who wanted more added to the draft.
Since July, a new text with changes regarding ethics has been circulating among lawmakers. It banned government officials and their families from issuing or promoting crypto — something Democrats had previously bemoaned.
But it hasn’t been enough, according to some lawmakers, and a group of Democrats wrote a letter in July saying the bill fell short.
Other than concerns around ethics, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock this year after the banking lobby raised concerns over stablecoin yield paid by crypto companies to their customers, clashing with companies like Coinbase.
Some Republicans are still sure a vote will pass this week, with Senate Banking Committeeman Tim Scott telling Fox Business that the Clarity Act is “something we should have, the first vote before we leave without any question.”
Senator Lummis added on Wednesday that a vote would happen — and that lawmakers would stay a day or two extra later.
