In Clarity Act’s final weeks, its path through U.S. Senate not getting much clearer

“We keep hearing that there are other competing priorities in the Senate, and while that may be true, everyone is still prioritizing this, and that’s why you see readouts daily of different Senate groups meeting together, Republicans and Democrats sitting over lunch talking about passing clarity,” Carbone said.

Lame duck?

The period of the congressional session after the November elections, a handful of weeks known as the lame-duck session, has been held out by some lawmakers and crypto leaders as a backup option to get Clarity passed this year. However, that period can be highly unpredictable and crowded with congressional action, depending on what’s left on the agenda.

Despite its remaining hurdles, some are still expressing strong assurances that 2026 is the year for the crypto market structure law.

“Clarity is no longer a question of if, but when Congress gets it across the finish line,” said Summer Mersinger, the CEO of the Blockchain Association, in a statement to CoinDesk. “Lawmakers are tackling the outstanding issues with real bipartisan resolve, and they are ready to turn years of debate into durable law that protects consumers, gives builders certainty and keeps American leading.”

But analysts are more reserved in their expectations.

“We believe that at least the Senate needs to pass the bill before its August recess for it to become law this year,” Beacon Policy Advisors, a policy research group in Washington, said in a Monday note. “While hypothetically negotiations could continue into the fall, incentives change around the midterms, and the odds that the bill will become law at all, not just this year, will diminish significantly if the Senate misses its August deadline.”