CLARITY Act Amendments Could Tighten US Banking Access for XRP
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is preparing to markup the CLARITY Act, but new reported amendments could tighten banking access for crypto firms—especially XRP.
Social media claims cited by the report say Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren drafted roughly 40 amendments. The most significant proposal would reportedly limit the Federal Reserve’s ability to grant “master accounts” to crypto-related firms, raising near-term policy-risk for XRP-linked players.
The impact may be uneven. Kraken is reported to already hold a Federal Reserve master account, while Ripple has received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a bank. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the committee is “putting in the work” and argued the market needs consistent rules and protections.
Traders should monitor how CLARITY Act language evolves, since changes to banking rails and compliance scope can quickly reprice sentiment across major tokens. XRP was around $1.52 at the time of writing (up on the day in the later update), while Bitcoin (BTC) slipped back below $80,000, reflecting broader market retracement.
Next steps: amendments will be debated and voted on unless withdrawn, and the bill’s path depends on committee support.
Bearish
Reported CLARITY Act amendments could restrict Federal Reserve “master accounts,” tightening how crypto firms interface with US banking rails. Even though some players (e.g., Kraken) already have footholds and Ripple has OCC bank approval, tightening the Fed’s discretion would still raise XRP-specific policy and liquidity risk. In the short term, this can pressure XRP via fear of reduced banking access and compliance friction. In the longer term, it could limit growth of crypto banking infrastructure if the bill’s wording moves toward curbs. However, the market reaction may be moderated if amendments are softened or withdrawn and if existing approvals offset the impact.