CFTC Chairman Selig says 'we're so close' as Aug. 7 recess deadline looms; Sen. Lummis warns failure means another country writes the rules.
Alpha Score of 54 reflects moderate overall profile with moderate momentum, moderate value, weak quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals — score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
A Senate vote on the Clarity Act now carries a hard deadline of Aug. 7, when the chamber goes into its next recess. Crypto advocates and a top regulator are pressing lawmakers to act before that window closes.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig told Fox Business on Wednesday that the bill is “so close” to passage, calling a federal standard for digital assets critical to replace the existing patchwork of state laws. “We want to get this done so we have certainty, clarity and consumer protection,” Selig said. “It should be a bipartisan issue. We’ve got to get it across the line.”
Selig noted that negotiations have drifted onto “mission creep” issues like ethics, crowding out core consumer protection standards. “They’re just derailing this real opportunity to have a bipartisan bill in place,” he said. “Otherwise, you end up with regulators like me writing all the rules, and I’m sure all the Democrats would prefer to get something in place that’s bipartisan.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., framed the failure as a strategic loss. “If we fail to pass the Clarity Act, we are ensuring another country will write the rules for digital assets and we spend the next decade catching up,” she posted on X Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, replied: “Agreed. It is time to put the CLARITY Act on the floor and have a vote this month.”
The advocacy group Stand With Crypto urged supporters to contact senators when they return from recess Monday, July 13. “The next recess is August 8th, so the Clarity Act now faces a hard deadline of August 7 to pass the Senate,” the organization posted. “The clock is ticking.”
For traders, the act's passage would remove a major regulatory overhang for U.S.-listed crypto assets. A federal registration framework would replace state-by-state money transmitter licenses, simplifying compliance for exchanges, custodians, and token issuers. The current stall leaves private capital moving ahead on blockchain implementation while public policy lags, as PYMNTS reported earlier this month.
What remains unclear is the bill's final language on the split between CFTC and SEC authority over tokens, and which consumer protection standards will apply. Selig's comments suggest those details are still in play, and any last-minute amendments could shift the risk calculus for assets that would fall under the new rules.
The Senate returns Monday. The clock runs to Aug. 7.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.