Senate Republicans Release Revised Clarity Act Ahead of September 15 Vote

Senate Republicans released a revised Clarity Act on Thursday that targets “decentralized-in-name-only” crypto trading protocols.

The new language would require non-decentralized protocols, that is those controlled by people or groups, to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) unveiled the 630-page updated legislation ahead of the September 15 procedural vote to pass the Clarity Act, which seeks to establish a federal digital-asset market framework and clarify regulatory responsibilities.

“This updated Clarity Act text reflects bipartisan hard work over August—specifying when decentralized-in-name-only DeFi protocols must register with the CFTC and limiting the DeFi provisions to spot and cash transactions, in response to Native American concerns about prediction markets,” Lummis wrote on X, adding that the new version contains over 100 changes requested by Democrats.

“Let’s get this done!” she said.

A Senate procedural vote on the Clarity Act, scheduled for September 15, is widely viewed as a do-or-die moment for the long-anticipated crypto legislation.

The Clarity Act, if passed, would effectively legalize most cryptocurrency activity in the United States, draw jurisdictional lines between the CFTC and SEC, and largely clear the way for crypto startups to raise funds through token sales once again.

The new draft of the bill directs the CFTC and Treasury to develop rules for trading protocols that people or groups can control or materially alter. The ethics provisions remain largely unchanged from the July draft that prohibited public officials, employees and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.

Democrats have sought broader restrictions addressing President Donald Trump’s crypto interests, and according to a report by Politico, none are in support of the new bill.

When it comes to the fight over so-called stablecoin yield in the Clarity Act, crypto advocates and community bankers have since taken their lobbying efforts to senators’ home states. Industry group Stand With Crypto said supporters contacted members of Congress nearly 50,000 times in August, while bankers have pressed for changes to the rewards provisions.

Lummis urged Democrats to support the bill, saying it incorporates their requested changes.

“They demanded the felony bar on fraudsters, $150M for the CFTC, the crackdown on platforms like Binance, and they got almost everything they asked for. Now they need to vote for the bill they built. Anything less is walking away from their own work,” Lummis said on X.