CFTC chair says CLARITY Act nears passage

TLDR

CFTC Chair Michael Selig says the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act is close to passage, but it still faces key votes and negotiations in the US Senate.

1. The CLARITY Act has cleared major hurdles, including House passage and a Senate committee vote, yet prediction markets still price its 2026 passage at only about 44.5 percent.
2. The bill would give the CFTC primary authority over digital commodity spot markets and leave securities to the SEC, aiming to end years of regulatory ambiguity for exchanges and developers.
3. The next few weeks, especially before the August 7 Senate recess, are critical, as floor scheduling and compromises on contentious sections could decide whether crypto gets clear US rules this decade.

Deep Dive

1. Where The CLARITY Act Stands

Reports quote CFTC Chair Michael Selig saying Congress is close to passing federal crypto legislation, specifically the CLARITY Act, and that the Act is nearing passage or nearing finalization in the Senate. The bill passed the House in 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May 2026 with a 15 to 9 bipartisan vote, placing it on the Senate Legislative Calendar for a full floor vote.

Prediction markets monitored in these articles price the chance of the Act being signed into law by the end of 2026 at about 44.5 percent, up from roughly 40 percent, showing ethereum/">optimism but not certainty. Senator Cynthia Lummis and others are publicly urging passage before the August 7 recess, arguing the current session may be the last realistic window before 2030.

Confidence: moderate, because multiple independent reports describe the same legislative status and probability range.

2. What The Act Would Change For Crypto

The CLARITY Act is a market structure bill that would draw explicit jurisdictional lines: the CFTC would gain exclusive authority over digital commodity spot markets like Bitcoin and Ether, while the SEC would retain oversight of digital assets that are investment contracts. That split would determine how exchanges register, what disclosures token issuers owe, and how custody rules apply, which is central for institutional participation.

The Act also interacts with developer protections via Section 604, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. Senator Ron Wyden is pushing to keep this section, which would ensure non custodial software developers are not treated as money transmitters simply for publishing code, addressing a major concern for DeFi and wallet projects. Together with earlier stablecoin legislation such as the GENIUS Act, CLARITY is intended to form a coherent federal framework for digital assets.

3. Risks, Hurdles And What To Watch Next

Despite the CFTC Chairs optimism, the Act still faces several political and policy hurdles before reaching the presidents desk. It must reconcile differences with the Senate Agriculture Committees version, secure 60 votes on the Senate floor, and then survive a conference with the House. Contentious issues include ethics language linked to officials crypto holdings, law enforcement concerns about Section 604, and details of stablecoin yield and rewards.

Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and John Thune, plus public signals from President Trump and key committee chairs, will heavily influence whether the bill gets floor time before the August recess. Multiple senators and industry figures are warning that failure to move now could push comprehensive US crypto legislation out to around 2030, leaving the European Unions MiCA and other regimes to set de facto global standards.

Conclusion

CFTC Chair Seligs comments reflect genuine momentum behind the CLARITY Act, but also highlight that nearing passage is still far from guaranteed. For crypto markets, the Acts success would lock in CFTC led oversight of digital commodities and reduce the regulatory fog that has weighed on US based exchanges, issuers, and developers. Over the coming weeks, watch Senate floor scheduling and compromises around developer protections and enforcement powers; those decisions will determine whether regulatory clarity becomes a real catalyst for crypto or remains an unrealized narrative.