Emergency Temporary Agreement to Save the "Clarity Act"

Author: Crypto in America, Eleanor Terrett
Translation: Lee, Golden Finance

On Thursday morning, whether the Democratic-supported negotiations could reach the final stage was uncertain, and this highly influential legislative draft for the crypto industry was once hanging by a thread.

Just ten minutes after the Senate Banking Committee’s highly anticipated “Digital Asset Market Clarity Act” review and voting meeting began, a group of lawmakers quietly finalized an agreement, ultimately securing bipartisan support for the bill to proceed smoothly. Industry insiders generally believe that this breakthrough significantly increases the likelihood of the bill being submitted to and passed by the full Senate.

This landmark bill, along with seven independent amendments, was finally approved in the committee with a clear bipartisan vote of 15 in favor and 9 against. Maryland Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks, Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, along with all Republican committee members, voted to push the bill to the full Senate for consideration. Over the past 24 hours, the outside world initially predicted that the review would only see partisan votes, and the bill’s progress might be blocked; this outcome was truly unexpected.

Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Commerce Association of the Crypto Industry, said: “On Wednesday night, when we learned that the expected bipartisan consensus could not be reached, we were initially quite disappointed about this review.”

According to “American Crypto News,” despite sources claiming that significant progress had been made between the parties on establishing ethical standards for public officials—an issue central to the Democratic-supported bill—negotiations among bipartisan committee members still broke down Wednesday night. The conflict shifted to the proposed amendments to the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act”—which aims to protect non-custodial software developers from legal liabilities related to currency transmission—yet the Republican side firmly rejected the proposed changes, causing negotiations to stall.

The deadlock persisted until Thursday morning. Five Democratic senators inclined to support the crypto industry gathered at Senator Warner’s office to discuss countermeasures, including Virginia Senator Mark Warner, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, along with Alsobrooks and Gallego. Afterwards, they headed to the D.C. Senate office building to attend a hearing at 10:30 a.m.

A staff member from the Senate Banking Committee told “American Crypto News”: “Until 10:29 a.m., the lawmakers were still engaged in intense negotiations, which is quite rare to see.”

On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee held a review and voting session on the “Clarity Act.”

It was only when Chair of the Committee, South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, announced the hearing officially open that the situation quietly shifted. The hearing was packed with media reporters, industry practitioners, and government officials, all focused on the heated debate over amendments at the podium, with no one noticing the changing situation outside. Previously, Scott had rejected more than a dozen bipartisan amendments on the grounds of procedural irregularities and omissions, and most of the debate centered on which proposals could proceed to the final vote.

In the lounge called the “Preliminary Conference Room” beside the hearing, North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis, Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, along with Alsobrooks, Gallego, and other lawmakers, urgently met to finalize this critical, bipartisan agreement.

Carbone’s team maintained remote contact with parliamentary staff throughout the hearing. He said: “After senior Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered her opening speech, we gradually received positive signals from parliamentary staff, and both sides finally saw an opportunity to reach an agreement.”

After the agreement was finalized, another staff member described the scene in the preliminary conference room as chaotic—unprecedented: Republican aides handwritten revisions and amendments, simultaneously implementing the negotiated changes, printing the latest documents urgently, and swiftly delivering them to each senator.

This staff member admitted: “This is the most unusual day I’ve experienced in the Senate.”

The compromise agreement mainly involved strategic adjustments to five amendments proposed by Lummis, including removing a related statement in Article 301 of the bill concerning the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” in Article 604. This move sparked concerns among many DeFi practitioners, who believed that the deletion would strip the bill of its core protections for software developers.

Other key revisions included allowing banks and credit unions to conduct digital asset-related businesses, fine-tuning provisions related to asset tokenization, strictly prohibiting insider trading using subordinate assets, and retaining existing consumer protection laws in various states. Approved by Scott, all revised amendments were reintroduced into the voting process, all passing with bipartisan support, which also secured the crucial votes of Democrats Gallego and Alsobrooks. However, both explicitly stated that their support was contingent on further improvements and refinements of the bill.

Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego stated during the committee meeting that he would vote in support of the “Clarity Act.”

Gallego publicly said: “I want to clarify that my support in this committee vote does not mean I will vote in favor in the full Senate. There are still many unresolved issues, the most difficult and critical being the establishment of ethical standards for public officials.”

After the hearing, Gallego told the media that negotiations on the ethical standards for public officials were nearing completion. After weeks of tough negotiations over Trump-related crypto asset issues, the subsequent progress of the bill is expected to become smoother.

Whether support can be secured from Democratic senators Warner, Cortez Masto, and Warnock still depends on subsequent negotiations to dispel law enforcement concerns. Law enforcement agencies believe that some provisions of the bill could limit their authority to pursue illegal activities involving blockchain-based crimes.

After the most chaotic Senate Banking Committee review and voting in recent years, the bill still needs to incorporate provisions drafted by the Senate Agriculture Committee and then be reintroduced with renewed momentum for full Senate consideration. Lawmakers and staff sincerely hope that the process will encounter fewer unexpected surprises moving forward.