The Senate Banking Committee advanced a landmark digital asset market structure bill Thursday after months of negotiations, signaling fresh momentum for the long-stalled measure.
The so-called Clarity Act would establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator for large parts of the crypto industry while the Securities and Exchange Commission would retain authority to oversee digital securities. The bill now heads to the Senate floor, where lawmakers will need to combine it with
The bipartisan committee vote will likely be cheered by the crypto industry, which has long sought to create clear rules for the digital asset space, but the bill still faces challenges.
It's unclear whether senators, in consultation with the White House, will be able to hash out a bipartisan ethics provision meant to limit government officials' ability to profit from crypto-linked business. Those ethical concerns largely target President Donald Trump, whose family's wealth has
Stablecoin rewards
The committee vote came after a bipartisan compromise was brokered by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks following months of back-and-forth negotiations among lawmakers, bank groups and crypto firms. Those talks centered on the ability of crypto exchanges to offer rewards to customers for holding stablecoins, a type of crypto token whose value is pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar.
An earlier effort to hold a committee vote in January was derailed when Coinbase Global Inc. CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew
Bank groups have
