US Treasury presses Congress on CLARITY Act

TLDR

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is publicly urging the Senate to quickly pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a major crypto market structure bill.

1. The CLARITY Act passed the House in 2025 but is stuck in the Senate, and Treasury now frames it as a national priority for digital asset rules.
2. The bill would set federal definitions and licensing rules for crypto, tokenized assets and decentralized exchanges, with the biggest fight centered on whether stablecoins can pay yield.
3. The next few months, including a possible Senate Banking markup, will decide if the bill reaches President Trump this session or slips into further delay.

Deep Dive

1. What Treasury Is Pushing For

Bessent is asking Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act immediately, arguing that Senate floor time is scarce and that US leadership in finance is at stake as the crypto market nears 3 trillion dollars and roughly one in six Americans hold digital assets. The House already approved the bill in July 2025 by a 294134 bipartisan vote, but it has been stalled in the Senate for more than 260 days due to internal disagreements.

According to multiple summaries, the CLARITY Act would define when a digital asset is treated as a security versus a commodity, create a federal registration route for trading platforms and bring clearer rules to tokenized assets and decentralized exchanges, filling gaps left by the earlier stablecoin focused GENIUS Act. Bessent describes it as essential to move from disastrously unclear regulation to a coherent framework for crypto markets.

2. Why It Matters For Crypto Users

The CLARITY Act is essentially a nationwide rulebook for crypto market structure. It aims to clarify SEC versus CFTC jurisdiction, standardize disclosures and custody expectations, and formalize licensing for exchanges and DeFi-like venues that match trades in digital assets.

The main political fight is over stablecoin yields. Banks argue that allowing interest on stablecoins could drain deposits from traditional banks, while crypto firms say yields are necessary to attract users. A White House Council of Economic Advisers study found that banning stablecoin yield would increase bank lending by only about 2.1 billion dollars, or 0.02 percent of the 12 trillion dollar US lending market, while costing users roughly 800 million dollars per year in welfare losses, which weakens the banking lobbys case.

3. What To Watch Next

Bessent and pro-crypto lawmakers are pushing for a Senate Banking Committee markup as early as late April, with an eye to sending the bill to the president before the 2026 midterms crowd out floor time. Negotiations now center on final stablecoin yield language, consumer protections in DeFi and antiillicit finance controls.

At the same time, regulators are implementing the GENIUS Act, which already imposes one to one reserve rules on payment stablecoins and new anti-money-laundering obligations on issuers. Internationally, hubs like Abu Dhabi and Singapore already advertise clear digital asset regimes, so further delay increases the risk that projects and liquidity migrate away from the US.

Conclusion

Treasurys push on the CLARITY Act marks a shift from fragmented, enforcement driven oversight toward a single federal framework for digital asset markets. If Congress can resolve the stablecoin yield fight and move the bill this session, the US would move closer to MiCA-style regulatory clarity, which could anchor more crypto development and institutional activity onshore. If it stalls again, pressure will likely keep building as capital and projects continue to flow to jurisdictions that already offer clear, predictable crypto rules.