The backdrop: Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis and Sen. Thom Tillis released an updated text of the bill on Tuesday (May 12) that will serve as the basis for Thursday’s markup.
One fun fact of note is that while the crypto market structure bill is frequently referred to as the “CLARITY Act,” the name of the bill per its text is officially the “Digital Asset Market Clarity Act,” meaning that policy is just the Clarity Act, and not the CLARITY Act.
But that doesn’t mean that the lead-up to the Senate meeting hasn’t been without an All-Caps moment here and there.
See also: Crypto’s Defining Week Arrives as Senate Pushes CLARITY Act Forward
The Latest as Crypto Courts Washington
- President Donald Trump on Monday night (May 11) urged Congress to pass the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” a move industry participants believe could help unlock stalled procedural votes tied to broader crypto negotiations.
- A bipartisan crypto market structure breakfast took place Tuesday morning featuring Sens. Lummis, Tillis, Bernie Moreno, Ruben Gallego and Kirsten Gillibrand.
- According to reports of the discussions, senators focused heavily on unresolved market structure negotiations and ethics provisions ahead of Thursday’s markup. Sen. Moreno reportedly referred to the ethics discussions as a “circus.”
- Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and Lummis have reached a deal addressing law enforcement concerns in the landmark crypto bill, allowing prosecutors to pursue anti-money laundering (AML) charges against demonstrably culpable crypto actors.
- American Bankers Association CEO Rob Nichols sent a letter to bank CEOs nationwide urging “immediate engagement” on stablecoin yield policy.
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is reportedly scheduled to address the Senate GOP Steering lunch on Wednesday (May 13), as the Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto PAC informed Senate offices that it will score Thursday morning’s crypto banking markup vote.
Why it matters: After years of stalled crypto legislation, industry executives, bank lobbyists, Senate leadership and even the president are converging around what could become Congress’ most consequential digital asset framework to date.
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The legislation as written would:
- Establish clearer SEC and CFTC jurisdictional boundaries
- Effectively codify bitcoin and ethereum
- Codify oversight standards for digital asset intermediaries
- Strengthen AML and Bank Secrecy Act requirements
- Create pathways for bank participation in digital asset activity
- Establish disclosure and compliance standards for token issuers
- Define standards around decentralization and DeFi oversight
- Push voluntary adoption of post-quantum cryptography standards
More like this: Lawmakers Recast Stablecoins as Payments Tools in CLARITY Act Compromise
The politics around crypto are also evolving quickly:
- Republicans increasingly frame digital asset legislation as a U.S. competitiveness and financial innovation issue.
- Democrats remain focused on ethics safeguards, disclosure standards and investor protections.
- Banks are now actively trying to shape stablecoin and tokenization policy rather than simply opposing crypto outright.
- Crypto firms and advocacy groups are becoming more sophisticated political operators ahead of the 2026 cycle.
- Senate allies increasingly believe the bill must move before the 2026 midterm cycle freezes bipartisan dealmaking.
“I look forward to Congress quickly passing this legislation and sending it to President Trump’s desk soon,” Tillis said in a statement.
Ultimately, the headlines reveal how Washington is moving from “whether crypto gets rules” to “what the rules are.” The debate is no longer about banning the industry but about assigning regulators and guardrails.
Still, the Senate still isn’t done even if markup succeeds. Banking Committee language must eventually reconcile with Agriculture Committee text and the earlier House-passed framework for digital asset markets.