CFTC chair says crypto's market-structure bill is "so close"

Selig Pushes Senate With Weeks Left on the Clock

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig (@ChairmanSelig) is stepping up pressure on the Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before lawmakers break for recess on August 7. Speaking to Fox Business, Selig said the bill is "so close" and urged Congress to get it across the line, days after the chamber missed an informal July 4 target. Lawmakers have warned that a failure to act before the recess could delay the next opening for years.

The CLARITY Act is a proposed U.S. market-structure bill designed to define digital assets, split oversight between the SEC and the CFTC, and create registration rules for crypto exchanges, brokers, and dealers. The House of Representatives passed the bill with bipartisan support in July 2025. The House passed the legislation last summer. The Senate has yet to hold a floor vote.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, who leads the Senate Banking Committee's digital assets subcommittee, has said negotiators aim to release bill text and hold a vote this month. The committee advanced the measure in a 15-9 vote, with two Democrats joining Republicans.

Selig framed urgency around more than just timing. His goal is not simply to regulate crypto but to make regulatory clarity permanent and irreversible regardless of who occupies the White House next, noting he wants to ensure a future administration hostile to crypto cannot dismantle the rules. He also pointed to U.S. competitiveness, arguing that a patchwork of state laws has hurt American innovation.

Democratic Holdouts and the Trump Question

The main sticking point is political. Democrats are pushing for ethics language that would cover President Trump and his family's crypto ventures, alongside illicit-finance provisions and rules on stablecoin yields. Selig, nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2025, has called those demands a distraction. Democrats frame them as basic consumer protection.

If the CLARITY Act clears the Senate before the August recess, it would for the first time establish clear legal boundaries between the SEC and CFTC over digital asset jurisdiction, ending years of regulatory ambiguity that has kept significant institutional capital on the sidelines. Some analysts give the measure even odds of passage before the August 7 recess.

Before his current role, Selig served as chief counsel of the SEC's Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, where he helped develop a regulatory framework for digital asset securities markets and worked to end regulation by enforcement.

Sources:
Bitcoin Magazine: CFTC Chair Says Clarity Act Is 'So Close' As Deadline Nears
BeInCrypto: What Is the CLARITY Act? The U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill Explained
CFTC.gov: Michael Selig Sworn In as 16th CFTC Chairman