Overview
- Senate leaders moved other business onto the floor and the merged CLARITY Act has not received a full Senate vote, leaving the bill effectively shelved and prediction markets pricing passage at roughly 27%.
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the agency is ready to write crypto market rules if Congress does not act and has offered technical help to lawmakers working on the bill.
- The SEC’s Project Crypto rule package on the agency’s 2026 agenda could clarify token offerings, custody and trading standards but it cannot statutorily reassign CFTC authority over spot digital commodity markets.
- Negotiators remain deadlocked on key text including ethics rules for officials and limits on stablecoin yields, and those unresolved items have blocked the bipartisan deal needed to clear procedural Senate hurdles.
- Industry lobbying continued with fintech firm Block publicly endorsing the CLARITY Act and the bill’s pause ahead of the August recess makes later floor scheduling and continued regulatory uncertainty the most likely next developments.