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Sen. Cynthia Lummis says the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act \u201cmust be completed by the end of the year,\u201d with Republicans planning a late\u2011April Banking Committee markup after months of delay.<\/p>\n
\n Summary<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) delivered her clearest deadline yet for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Wednesday, declaring during discussions reported by crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett that the landmark cryptocurrency market structure bill \u201cmust be completed by the end of the year\u201d \u2014 regardless of the obstacles that have repeatedly delayed its progress. Lummis also revealed that the Republican side of the Senate Banking Committee is planning to initiate the bill\u2019s markup process in late April, after the Easter holiday recess.\u200b<\/p>\n The remarks represent a significant hardening of Lummis\u2019s posture on the CLARITY Act \u2014 formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act \u2014 which has been the most consequential piece of pending crypto legislation in Congress since the passage of the GENIUS Act stablecoin law in July 2025. Lummis, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Digital Assets, has been the bill\u2019s most prominent champion, framing it as essential to U.S. leadership in digital finance and arguing that it would establish regulatory protections that future administrations could not easily reverse.\u200b<\/p>\n The CLARITY Act seeks to resolve the long-running jurisdictional dispute between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over digital assets, assigning the CFTC primary oversight authority over digital commodities while preserving SEC authority over tokens classified as securities. It also sets registration and disclosure requirements for crypto trading platforms and token issuers. The House passed its version of the bill in 2025, but the Senate has advanced a narrower iteration that imposes stricter customer-protection requirements and limits regulatory discretion \u2014 setting up a \u201chigh-stakes negotiation\u201d between the two chambers over the final text.<\/p>\n The thorniest unresolved issue has been stablecoin yield. An earlier draft of the Senate\u2019s CLARITY Act included language prohibiting stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield solely for holding a stablecoin balance \u2014 a provision designed to prevent payment stablecoins from competing directly with insured bank deposits. The clause would permit activity-based rewards tied to real usage \u2014 such as payments, liquidity provision, staking, or network governance participation \u2014 but bar passive yield simply for custody. Coinbase cited these provisions as grounds for withdrawing its support for the bill, while banking groups backed the restrictions.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s statement from Lummis offered the most encouraging signal yet that this impasse is breaking. She said a solution on the stablecoin yield question \u201chas been largely reached,\u201d and added that disputes over DeFi-related provisions have also \u201cbeen properly addressed\u201d. Sources familiar with the negotiations had previously described talks between legislators and industry as moving \u201cin the right direction,\u201d with Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone expressing optimism about securing an affirmative vote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The late-April markup timeline is more concrete than any previously announced. Earlier in the year, the Banking Committee had scheduled a markup for January only to pull it the day before, after Lummis acknowledged that the bill needed further agreement \u2014 particularly around the concerns of banks and credit unions worried about stablecoin-driven deposit outflows. The delay<\/a> prompted open frustration from Lummis, who had urged Democratic colleagues not to retreat from months of bipartisan progress.<\/p>\n With the GENIUS<\/a> Act already signed into law and its implementing regulations now under OCC review, the CLARITY Act represents the remaining pillar of what the industry has long<\/a> called a comprehensive U.S. digital asset regulatory framework. Lummis has set a year-end deadline. Whether Washington can hold to it \u2014 in a legislative calendar already crowded by geopolitical crises and a contentious Fed cycle \u2014 will determine whether 2026 becomes the year crypto finally gets its rules.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n