The CLARITY Act Has 100 New Changes and a 60-Vote Problem

Lummis Says the New Draft Includes More Than 100 Changes

On Thursday, Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) explained that the new draft contains a great deal of changes to the CLARITY Act. “This updated Clarity Act text reflects bipartisan hard work over August—specifying when decentralized-in-name-only DeFi protocols must register with the CFTC and limiting the DeFi provisions to spot and cash transactions, in response to Native American concerns about prediction markets.”

Lummis added:

“Overall, this text contains over 100 changes requested by Democrats. Let’s get this done!”

The bill is still H.R. 3633, the market-structure bill that already passed the House. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed to move the bill forward on Aug. 8. The Senate returns Sept. 14, and the first big hurdle comes Monday, Sept. 15, at 2:15 p.m. EDT, when senators are expected to vote on whether to advance the bill. It needs 60 votes to move forward. Republicans have 53 Senate seats, so even if every Republican votes yes, they’ll still need support from at least seven Democrats.

The Senate’s 60-Vote Hurdle Still Looms

Reporter Eleanor Terrett, who got a copy of the draft, highlighted the main policy changes included in it. “The changes here include: Requiring non-decentralized DeFi protocols to register with the CFTC, which mirrors Section 10301 of the Banking Committee portion of the bill,” Terrett wrote on X. “Limiting the DeFi provisions to spot or cash digital commodity transactions, which appears aimed at addressing concerns raised by tribes about blockchain-based prediction markets,” she added.

The reporter also noted that the changes included “clarifying the authority of credit unions to deal in crypto.” Following the news, Polymarket’s CLARITY Act wager that bets on whether or not the legislation will pass this year, jumped modestly by a few percentage points. Earlier in the day, it was down to 16%, and by 3:40 p.m. EDT, it stood at 19%. While an improvement, it’s still not the greatest odds.

The revised draft shows how specific concerns, including those raised by tribal gaming groups over prediction markets, can influence a much broader crypto bill. But getting it through the Senate could still be difficult. The bill needs 60 votes to advance, meaning Republican leaders will need Democratic support. Even with roughly 100 changes to the draft, it’s unclear whether those compromises will be enough to win over the senators they need.

While Lummis remains hopeful about getting a deal done, major disagreements over how digital assets should be regulated are still standing in the way.