Updated Crypto Clarity Act Starts Circulating Days Before Key Senate Vote
Key Takeaways
- •Senate Republicans released an updated draft of the Clarity Act crypto market structure bill ahead of the chamber's scheduled September 15 vote.
- •The revised draft would require non-decentralized DeFi protocols to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and sets criteria for what qualifies as a decentralized protocol.
- •The amendments also permit federal credit unions to use digital assets or distributed ledger systems for any services they are legally authorized to provide.
- •The bill passed the House last July but stalled in the Senate largely due to clashes between the banking lobby and crypto companies over paying customers yield on stablecoins.
- •The legislation has not yet gained bipartisan support, as some Democrats demand further amendments while President Trump has urged its passage.
Senate Republicans on Thursday began circulating an updated draft of the long-awaited crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act, releasing new amendments days before the chamber is scheduled to vote on the legislation.
The update was first reported by Eleanor Terrett of Crypto in America and Punchbowl News' Brendan Pedersen. According to the reporters, the revised bill includes changes such as requiring non-decentralized DeFi protocols to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as adjustments to how credit unions deal in crypto.
Under the new language, a decentralized finance app would fail the test of qualifying as a decentralized protocol if a person can control or materially alter its functionality, if it does not run solely on pre-established, transparent, encoded rules, or if someone can restrict or censor its use.
The draft also states that a federal credit union may use a digital asset or distributed ledger system to perform, provide, or deliver any activity, function, product, or service it is otherwise authorized by law to perform.
JUST IN: An updated version of the Clarity Act has released ahead of next week's floor vote "Latest changes include new DeFi requirements and credit union fix" — Punchbowl News Pass it pic.twitter.com/uYntehREqI
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 10, 2026
Lawmakers had hoped to hold a crucial vote on the market structure bill in August, before their five-week recess. The vote was delayed, and the Senate is now scheduled to vote on September 15.
The bill does not yet enjoy bipartisan support, according to the reporters.
The Clarity Act lays out a framework to formally divide federal oversight of digital assets among regulators, distinguishing which assets qualify as securities, commodities, or stablecoins. The latest amendments address how that framework would apply to DeFi protocols and the use of digital-asset infrastructure by federal credit unions. Crypto industry executives have long called for such rules to be put in place.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last July but has been stalled this year, largely because the banking lobby clashed with crypto companies over paying customers yield on stablecoins.
A separate draft tackling ethics concerns began circulating in July. That version would ban government officials from promoting or making money from crypto — an issue Democrats have criticized the Trump family over.
Despite the changes, a group of Democrats has said the bill falls short and has demanded amendments. Pro-crypto lawmakers, meanwhile, have blasted Democratic politicians whom they believe are deliberately holding back the bill.
President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers to get the legislation over the line. In August, he said that in order for the United States to remain the “undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto,” they had to pass the “very, very powerful legislation.”
This article was written by Mathew Di Salvo and originally published by Bitcoin Magazine.
