Clarity Act edges closer as disputes narrow

TLDR

The CLARITY Act, a major U.S. crypto market-structure bill, is close to a negotiated draft but still not at a vote-ready stage.

1. Lawmakers and regulators have reportedly cut outstanding disputes from about 12 to just 23 issues, mainly around DeFi and stablecoin rewards.
2. The bill would clarify SEC vs CFTC roles and set federal rules for stablecoins and DeFi, reducing todays fragmented, lawsuit-driven regime.
3. Timing is tight: no markup or floor vote is scheduled yet, and election politics could still delay or reshape the final outcome.

Deep Dive

1. Where The Bill Stands

Recent analysis from JPMorgan and Senate staffers says negotiations on the CLARITY Act have advanced to the point where only a handful of the original dozen contentious issues remain, with stablecoin rewards now in a good place and most other topics largely resolved. Reports describe only 23 open questions focused on DeFi oversight and token classification, while core sections on market structure, registration, and consumer protection are close to consensus JPMorgan summary and CoinDesk coverage.

However, the final legislative text has not been released publicly, and the Senate Banking Committee still has not held its formal markup, so edges closer means the negotiation phase is maturing, not that passage is guaranteed.

2. What The CLARITY Act Would Do

The bill aims to create the first comprehensive federal framework for U.S. digital asset markets. Key elements include:

1. A clearer split between the SEC (for securities) and CFTC (for commodities and derivatives) in overseeing crypto markets.
2. Federal registration and conduct rules for stablecoin issuers, including guardrails on yield-like rewards products that today sit in a gray area.
3. Definitions and supervisory frameworks for DeFi and tokenized assets, moving oversight from ad hoc enforcement to statute-based rules legislative rundown.

3. Risks, Timeline, And What To Watch

Even with narrowing disputes, the bill faces political and procedural risk. It is not yet on the Senate Banking Committees markup calendar, and observers flag a narrow window across late April and May before the 2026 election cycle crowds out floor time timeline analysis.

JPMorgan notes that if Democrats regain the House in 2026, priorities could shift and the bill might slip to 2027 or be rewritten, while prediction markets currently price a meaningful but not certain chance of passage this year probability snapshot.

For crypto users, the concrete signals to watch are: a scheduled Senate Banking Committee markup, release of the stablecoin-yield compromise text, and any public draft that locks in the SEC/CFTC split.

Conclusion

CLARITY is genuinely closer to a deal, with most technical disputes resolved and only a few sensitive issues still open, especially around DeFi and stablecoin rewards. The eventual bill could replace todays patchwork of guidance and lawsuits with a durable U.S. market-structure law, but until the committee markup is scheduled and text is public, the main risk is timing and politics, not drafting.