US Senate Delays CLARITY Act, Defers Federal Crypto Market-Structure Vote to 2026
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has postponed the markup and amendment hearing for the CLARITY Act, effectively pushing federal crypto market-structure legislation into 2026. Negotiations between Republican Chairman Tim Scott and Democrats show progress but have not resolved key disputes over asset classification (security vs. commodity), primary regulator designation (SEC vs. CFTC), financial-stability safeguards, market-integrity rules and ethics provisions. The delay reduces prospects for a 2025 legislative outcome and preserves the current fragmented patchwork of state rules and agency enforcement. Meanwhile, regulators are acting independently: the SEC continues enforcement and held staff roundtables on crypto classification and enforcement policy, and the CFTC has advanced limited steps to allow licensed institutions to trade spot crypto and issued narrow no-action relief for prediction markets. For traders, the postponement sustains regulatory uncertainty around jurisdiction and token classification — a factor likely to keep volatility elevated in spot and derivatives markets, slow institutional on-ramps and delay approvals for new products. Industry lobbying will continue ahead of the next Congress, but final bipartisan agreement is required to clarify SEC vs. CFTC authority and token status.
Neutral
The delay maintains regulatory uncertainty rather than introducing a new restrictive or permissive regime, so immediate directional price pressure is limited. In the short term, traders can expect sustained volatility in spot and derivatives markets because unresolved questions about asset classification and primary regulator (SEC vs CFTC) affect listings, custody, product approvals and institutional participation. Periodic enforcement actions from the SEC and incremental CFTC steps can cause episodic downside pressure on tokens perceived as securities, while CFTC-friendly outcomes later could favor commodities-linked tokens. Over the longer term, definitive legislation would reduce uncertainty and likely encourage institutional on-ramps and product launches; conversely, failure to reach agreement could push capital toward clearer jurisdictions (e.g., EU MiCA), maintaining fragmented liquidity and elevated risk premia. Given these mixed forces — ongoing enforcement, partial CFTC progress, and prolonged negotiation — the net market effect is neutral: higher volatility and event-driven moves but no clear sustained bullish or bearish trend solely from this delay.