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Thune Schedules CLARITY Act Vote for September, Testing Crypto Bill
Thune set a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act for mid-September, testing the crypto bill's 60-vote threshold. The latest draft bars stablecoin interest for holding but allows activity-based rewards.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved Saturday to set a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act when the Senate returns from its August recess in mid-September, the most concrete step yet toward a floor vote on the stalled cryptocurrency legislation.
Reuters reported that the procedural vote, expected the week of Sept. 15, will test whether Republicans can assemble the 60 votes needed to pass the bill. The legislation requires at least eight Democrats to join all 53 Republicans, a threshold that remains uncertain given opposition from several Democratic senators.
The CLARITY Act would provide the crypto industry with a federal rulebook determining when digital tokens are securities or commodities and whether the SEC or CFTC oversees them. Crypto firms have pushed for the measure as a way to end years of regulatory uncertainty.
The delay before the vote increases the bill's political risk. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told Politico the odds drop "precipitously" after the recess and with midterm elections approaching. "We leave for a month, we come back, we've got an election ahead of us," he said. "I think it gets difficult to get done."