The CLARITY Act enters its most important Senate test yet after President Donald Trump agreed to tougher ethics restrictions designed to win enough bipartisan support for the sweeping cryptocurrency bill.
The Senate has scheduled a procedural vote for Tuesday, September 15. The measure needs 60 votes to move forward. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, which means Democratic support remains necessary even if every Republican backs the bill.
The latest agreement matters because ethics rules covering Trump and other federal officials had become one of the biggest obstacles to passage.
According to The Associated Press, Trump accepted about 80% of a bipartisan proposal developed by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.
What Changed in the Latest CLARITY Act?
The most important change concerns who can enforce the ethics rules.
Earlier versions relied heavily on the Justice Department. Democrats argued that this was not enough when the president himself could be affected by the restrictions. The new compromise gives state attorneys general a role in enforcement.
The revised language also includes a requirement for public officials to divest or place certain significant financial interests in crypto issuing companies into a blind trust. State attorneys general could also take action against crypto exchanges that list digital assets prohibited under the legislation.
Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis, Tim Scott and John Boozman said the new version gives state attorneys general a meaningful enforcement role.
Trump Crypto Holdings Became Central to the Bill
The CLARITY Act started as a market structure bill. Its main purpose is to establish federal rules for digital assets and define how oversight is divided between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
But Trump personal crypto business interests turned ethics into a major part of the negotiations.
AP reports that Trump disclosed more than $1.4 billion in crypto related income during 2025, including money connected to World Liberty Financial and other digital asset ventures. Democrats and some Republicans argued that new crypto regulation needed rules preventing elected officials from shaping the market while holding large financial interests inside it.
The earlier ethics language already restricted federally elected officials, their spouses and federal judges from issuing digital assets. The Tillis and Gallego proposal went further by addressing ownership interests and independent enforcement.
The Vote on September 15 Is Not Final Passage
Tuesday is a cloture vote on moving ahead with the legislation, not the final vote that sends the bill to the White House.
Sixty senators need to support moving forward. If that threshold is reached, the Senate can begin debate and consider amendments before a final passage vote.
Senate Republicans released what they described as a final draft late Sunday. The new version includes 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats, according to reporting from The Block.
The latest draft arrives only days after Sen. Cynthia Lummis released updated bill text covering DeFi regulation, credit union crypto activity and other unresolved parts of the legislation.
What the CLARITY Act Actually Does?
The basic purpose of the bill has not changed.
The CLARITY Act creates a federal framework for digital commodities and gives the CFTC a larger role in regulating spot crypto markets. The SEC retains authority over digital assets and transactions that remain within securities law.
The legislation also creates registration requirements for crypto exchanges, brokers and dealers, along with custody and customer asset rules.
We explained the structure of the legislation in our earlier report on the CLARITY Act Senate negotiations. At that stage, the main disputes involved stablecoin rewards, Democratic ethics demands, banking industry opposition and DeFi rules.
Stablecoin Rules Are Still a Problem
The ethics compromise does not end every fight.
Banks remain concerned that crypto platforms can use stablecoin rewards to compete with traditional bank deposits. The newest draft adds a mechanism allowing the Treasury secretary to temporarily restrict stablecoin rewards if they cause substantial deposit withdrawals from community banks.
Crypto companies have resisted stricter limits because rewards are an important part of several stablecoin products.
That dispute means senators can support the new ethics language and still oppose other parts of the bill.
Bottom Line
The September 15 vote shows whether more than a year of negotiations has produced an actual Senate coalition.
The House passed the original CLARITY Act in July 2025 by a 294 to 134 vote. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version in May 2026 by 15 to 9, but full Senate passage has remained much harder.
Trump agreement on stronger ethics rules removes one major obstacle. It does not guarantee 60 votes.
If the procedural vote succeeds, the CLARITY Act moves into floor debate with its best chance yet of becoming the first major federal framework covering the wider U.S. crypto market. A failed vote leaves the legislation facing an increasingly narrow congressional calendar before the November elections.
