The crypto industry is making a last-ditch effort to secure passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) before a pivotal Senate vote scheduled for September 15. With the clock ticking, the sector is ramping up its lobbying and advertising campaigns to sway lawmakers and the public.
The CLARITY Act aims to establish clear federal regulations for digital asset markets, dividing oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, the bill faces significant opposition from the banking industry and political divisions within Congress.
The crypto industry’s aggressive campaign
The Cedar Innovation Foundation a nonprofit linked to the Fairshake super PAC network is launching a seven-figure advertising campaign across cable networks. The campaign includes three advertisements: two focused on consumer protection and industry endorsements, and one targeting banks that have resisted parts of the legislation.
The bank-focused advertisement criticizes the banking industry for enjoying a profit “feeding frenzy” while attempting to block competition. This ad is part of a broader strategy to make opposition to the CLARITY Act politically costly for lawmakers and the banking sector.
Banks’ concerns and resistance
Banks, particularly smaller lenders, have spent months lobbying lawmakers to tighten provisions governing stablecoin rewards. They argue that crypto platforms could use yield-like incentives to pull deposits away from the banking system. These objections have complicated negotiations and created hurdles for the bill’s passage.
The other advertisements in the campaign seek to broaden the CLARITY Act’s appeal beyond the crypto industry’s regulatory agenda. One highlights support from major law-enforcement groups and mentions that AARP backs provisions designed to combat crypto scams targeting older Americans. However, AARP’s support is narrower than a full endorsement of the legislation, focusing on a provision aimed at crypto ATM fraud.
Political hurdles and the ethics debate
Despite clearing some industry disputes, the CLARITY Act faces a significant political obstacle: how far Congress should go in restricting a sitting president and their family from profiting from digital assets. Republican Sens. Mike Rounds and Thom Tillis have indicated that the bill’s prospects have deteriorated due to divisions between Democrats and the White House over ethics restrictions.
Two Democratic aides told Semafor that the party has made little progress on its demand for an ethics provision covering President Donald Trump and his family. Rounds described the outlook as bleak, while Tillis said the legislation would fail without greater willingness from the White House to bridge the divide. However, the White House disputes this characterization, stating that Trump wants Congress to pass the CLARITY Act and has agreed to what it calls the most comprehensive ethics provision in history.
The disagreement leaves senators approaching the vote with both sides claiming concessions have been made but no clear indication that enough Democrats are prepared to provide the votes needed for cloture. The bill also faces a more basic political problem: Republican Sen. Roger Marshall has noted that he has heard virtually nothing about the legislation from constituents back home, suggesting that the industry’s intense Washington campaign has yet to make market structure a significant voter issue for at least some senators.
The shrinking window for passage
The difficulty of assembling 60 votes has become more consequential as Congress runs out of opportunities to finish the legislation before the current session ends. The House has canceled planned voting weeks later in September, making it increasingly likely that even a successful Senate process would push final action beyond the November midterm elections. Any Senate changes would also need House approval before the legislation could reach Trump’s desk.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis one of Congress’ most prominent crypto advocates, has sought to turn the compressed calendar into pressure on wavering lawmakers. She has framed the vote as a choice between protecting American crypto innovation and allowing China to gain ground in digital finance. Lummis has also emphasized provisions intended to protect customers when crypto companies fail, such as requiring covered intermediaries to segregate customer assets and treating qualifying holdings as customer property in bankruptcy.
These protections would still depend on factors including how assets are held and the contractual relationship between customers and platforms. Lummis has warned that failure this year could leave Congress without another realistic opportunity to enact market-structure legislation until 2030, potentially costing the US years of investment, jobs, and tax revenue.
