- On May 14, the Senate Banking Committee approved the CLARITY Act by a bipartisan 15-9 vote.
- After a long delay in the Senate Codification and Amendments session, this approval is a huge win for the entire cryptocurrency community, as it will provide much-needed regulatory clarity for cryptocurrency-based innovations.
- The approval sparked bullish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose near $82,000 with a 3% rise in the past 24 hours.
The US Senate Banking Committee will hold a key markup hearing on May 14 for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which is primarily known as the Clarity Act. In this preliminary session, the Senate approved a major bill on a bipartisan 15-9 vote.
What is the law of clarity?
The CLARITY Act is expected to provide regulatory clarity with clear federal rules for the digital asset sector by dividing powers between two agencies. While the CFTC will monitor several cryptocurrencies as digital commodities, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, the SEC will focus on tokens that fall under the category of securities.
The bill also includes provisions for stablecoins, along with protections for DeFi developers. Most importantly, this bill is expected to bring new reforms to the cryptocurrency market. This bill ends the long-standing regulatory uncertainty that exists in the cryptocurrency market and has troubled the digital assets sector.
In 2025, the House approved a version of the bill with strong bipartisan support. However, in the Senate, the bill has been stuck in the Banking Committee for nearly a year. Today’s coding session is the committee’s first official vote. In this markup session, senators voted on the bill with 100 different amendments. Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed more than 100 amendments to this bill.
After the bill was approved in this preliminary session in the committee, which includes 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats, in the next step, the bill will move towards a full vote in the Senate. After that session, lawmakers will need to work out the differences between the Senate version and others, such as the Agriculture Committee’s different version. After this process, the bill will reach the desk of US President Donald Trump for final approval with his signature. According to some reports, the bill is likely to be passed by July.
The committee is chaired by Republicans, led by Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina.
The bill also has strong support from the cryptocurrency sector, after making significant concessions, which were missing in the previous session.
Issues between banks and cryptocurrency companies over stablecoin returns; It has been largely resolved
One of the main points of contention has been stablecoin returns. There has been a struggle over whether crypto companies can pay the yield on stablecoins like USDC or USDT.
The banking sector has raised questions that this return may drain deposits away from traditional bank accounts and affect their operations. In response, the cryptocurrency industry stated that the return is tied to user activity, and is different from bank interest.
Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks have made concessions on this conflict. This compromise is included in the latest 309 pages bill Which was submitted on May 12.
The draft mentioned the provision including a ban on negative yield, which sounds like bank interest on stablecoin holdings. However, it will allow returns based on activities associated with things like transactions or use of the platform. Through such concessions, senators are resolving the concerns of banks as well as the cryptocurrency sector while encouraging innovation at the same time.
Senator Tim Scott said in: mail OnFamilies, small businesses, investors, and innovators deserve clear rules of the road when it comes to digital assets. The Senate version of the Clarity Act provides certainty, safeguards, and accountability, while protecting Main Street, enhancing national security, and sustaining innovation in America.“
Although some banking groups, such as the American Bankers Association, still oppose this bill. These banking groups criticized the waivers, saying they were not strict enough to regulate the digital assets sector.
However, the White House Council of Economic Advisers stated that the impact of stablecoin yields on bank lending will be limited.
After the new changes in the draft CLARITY law, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong He raised his support for the draft law. During the January advisory session, he raised objections to previous versions of the bill.
The crypto session has sparked discussion in the cryptocurrency community. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, recently said that not everyone got everything they wanted, but it was important to agree to the regulatory framework.
Senator Cynthia Lummis Mentioned The importance of the law of clarity, saying that “Without the Clarity Act, the digital asset industry will move offshore to any country with regulators willing to participate. Every day we stop is a day we give our competitors an advantage that we will never get back. The Law of Clarity is crucial to securing our financial future.“
Bitcoin rose 3% after Senate approval
While the cryptocurrency market has already surged on positive sentiment in the past few days, this CLARITY Act token session could bring bullish momentum if institutional investors start accumulating the news.
In the past two days, on May 12 and 13, Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows of about $233 million and $630 million, according to Father’s side. These ETF outflows also pushed the price of Bitcoin (BTC) below $80,000.
However, the cryptocurrency market is already giving positive results after the Commission decided to move forward with the Clarity Act. According to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin It is being traded around $81,917.18 With an increase of 3.17% in the past 24 hours. The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market also increased by about 2% and currently stands at approximately $2.72 trillion. The upward trend in Bitcoin has also led to correlation with other altcoins such as Ethereum, XRP, and others.
