Clarity Act Faces Amendment Storm In Senate

Over 100 Amendments Filed Ahead of Markup

The Senate Banking Committee is set to meet on May 14 to consider the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, a bill that would establish the first comprehensive federal framework for crypto markets in the United States. According to Politico, the committee has received more than 100 amendments to the legislation ahead of the markup, with Senator Elizabeth Warren submitting more than 40 of them alone.

The flurry of proposed changes comes after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, Senator Cynthia Lummis, and Senator Thom Tillis released a 309-page substitute text of the bill on May 12. The draft covers stablecoin yield rules, DeFi developer protections, and jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC. It also includes language similar to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would clarify that non-custodial software developers are not money transmitters.

Ethics Standoff Threatens Bipartisan Support

Among the amendments filed, one proposal would reportedly block the Federal Reserve from granting master accounts to crypto firms, while Senator Jack Reed has proposed banning crypto assets as legal tender. But the sharpest fault line is over ethics. The 309-page draft contains no provision barring senior government officials from profiting from the crypto industry while in office, and Democrats say that omission is a dealbreaker.

Senator Warren argued the bill puts investors, national security, and the entire financial system at risk, and tied her opposition to President Trump's crypto business interests. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose name appears on Title I of the bill, told the audience at Consensus 2026 in Miami that the CLARITY Act cannot move forward without an ethics provision. Her office cited a poll showing 73% of registered US voters support such a restriction. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in, signaling that ethics negotiations need to move further before Democrats can commit to a yes vote.

Sixty votes are needed for the bill to clear the full Senate, making meaningful Democratic support essential. If the bill passes committee on May 14, it would still need to be reconciled with a separate version approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee. The White House has set July 4 as its target for a presidential signature, though Senator Gillibrand has predicted the process will not wrap up until the first week of August. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno have both warned that a failure before the Memorial Day recess on May 21 could push the next viable legislative window to 2030 or beyond.

Sources:
CoinDesk: Clarity Act unveiled by US Senate Banking Committee before hearing
CoinDesk: Crypto industry cheers Senate Clarity Act markup date
Invezz: What's new in the Senate Banking Committee's updated CLARITY Act