US Senate Nears Vote on Digital Asset Clarity Act Amid Ethics Concerns

As lawmakers in the US Senate are likely to vote soon on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, representatives from advocacy organizations and companies are providing details of closed-door negotiations over the bill, which is expected to be the most comprehensive piece of legislation affecting the crypto industry.

In a Monday CNBC interview, Coinbase vice chair Ryan VanGrack said while the final negotiations over text of the CLARITY Act were taking place in the Senate, Democratic lawmakers had added additional protections for customers to give what he called “more teeth” to the legislation. He did not explicitly mention any progress on adding ethics provisions to the bill, which many Democrats said will be necessary for their votes.

“[A]t the end of the day, this is about customer protections,” said VanGrack. “The status quo lacks this infrastructure, lacks these protections, and the Democrats used this opportunity, wisely, to make sure that customers were first and foremost in [this bill].”

Notably, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong may have contributed to a delay for a markup of an earlier version of the bill in the Senate Banking Committee, when he announced in January that the exchange could not support the legislation as written. Several Coinbase executives have since come out publicly in favor of the Senate passing the bill, including chief legal officer Paul Grewal.

Under the Biden administration, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase for allegedly operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency. The case was dropped shortly after US President Donald Trump took office, with the agency headed by his pick for acting SEC chair, Mark Uyeda.

CLARITY has Trump’s support, but ethics could leave bill in limbo

Last week, following the death of Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump said on social media that members of the Senate should pass the CLARITY Act “in honor of” the South Carolina lawmaker, who he claimed had been “a big supporter” of the bill.

Republican lawmakers reportedly met with Trump on Thursday to discuss the bill amid Democrats’ concerns about the president’s ties to the crypto industry. In June, the president disclosed $1.4 billion in earnings related to his memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), his family crypto company World Liberty Financial and other digital asset investments.

Senate Democrats also reportedly held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to assess their positions on the CLARITY Act. As of Monday, lawmakers had not released the final text of the bill or scheduled a floor vote.