SEC Chair Expects Clarity Act to Pass This Month
Key Takeaways
- •Paul Atkins said he expects the Clarity Act to be voted on in the Senate on September 15 and passed this month.
- •The bill would establish a framework for classifying digital assets as securities, commodities, or stablecoins.
- •The SEC recently sent a proposal to the White House to clarify custody rules for crypto assets held by investment advisers and companies.
- •The Clarity Act has been delayed by disputes involving banking lobbyists, lawmakers, and crypto firms over issues such as yield payments on platforms like Coinbase.
- •Some lawmakers have also pushed ethics changes, including a draft measure that would bar government officials from promoting crypto or profiting from it.
SEC Chair Expects Clarity Act to Pass This Month
Wall Street’s top regulator said he expects the long-awaited Clarity Act to pass this month, putting the United States on track to become the “crypto capital of the world.”
Speaking to Fox Business on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said the regulator is continuing to advance rules aimed at supporting the crypto industry, underscoring how the agencies involved are still trying to provide clearer guidance while Congress works through the bill.
Pro-crypto lawmakers had hoped to pass the Clarity Act before Congress broke for the August recess, but the vote was pushed to September. The bill would create a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities, or stablecoins, a distinction that has long shaped how firms build products, handle compliance, and plan custody arrangements.
JUST IN: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says "The Regulation Crypto Assets proposal is our most historic step yet to cement America as the Crypto Capital of the World" pic.twitter.com/lcHtWcslgO — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 2, 2026
JUST IN: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says "The Regulation Crypto Assets proposal is our most historic step yet to cement America as the Crypto Capital of the World" pic.twitter.com/lcHtWcslgO
“The Clarity Act will be voted on in the Senate on the 15th of September,” Atkins said. “I anticipate and hope that it will be passed by the Senate and sent ultimately to the President’s desk for a signature.”
He added: “We’re changing the past approaches to try to update [rules], modernize them in the age of blockchain and crypto assets.”
Although the vote on the Clarity Act has been delayed, regulators including the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have said they will continue working to shape crypto policy, keeping pressure on the broader rulemaking process even as the legislative timetable slips.
Last week, the SEC sent a proposal to the White House seeking to “clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisers and companies.
Despite passing the House of Representatives last year, the Clarity Act has remained in deadlock for much of this year after the banking lobby clashed with lawmakers and crypto businesses over whether platforms such as Coinbase should be able to pay customers yield.
Some lawmakers have sought to change the bill’s wording on ethics, and a new bill began circulating in July. The draft would ban government officials from promoting crypto or making money from it.
Other Democratic lawmakers said the revised version still fell short, while several pro-crypto Republicans accused Democrats of deliberately politicizing the issue and delaying the bill.
This post ‘Crypto Capital of the World’: SEC Chair Expects Clarity Act to Pass This Month first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
