The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 — better known as the CLARITY Act — cleared the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 by a 15-9 vote. The bill still needs to pass the full Senate, align with the House version, and get the president's signature before it becomes law. But for a crypto industry that has been waiting years for a federal regulatory framework, this is the closest it's ever come.
What the bill does now
The core mission hasn't changed: define which digital assets fall under SEC jurisdiction and which belong to the CFTC. But the latest version added several new provisions. The Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise on stablecoin rewards restricts passive, deposit-like yield on payment stablecoins, while permitting certain transaction-based rewards under tighter oversight. The bill also includes insider trading language specific to digital assets and an insolvency safe harbor that lets counterparties close out digital commodity positions and access collateral during bankruptcy proceedings. Implementation is set for 360 days after enactment, with some sections taking longer if agencies need to finish rulemaking first.
The bill now moves to the full Senate. No date is set yet, but the likely window is June 2026. It may need 60 votes to pass, which means Republicans will need more Democratic support than they got in committee. The 15-9 committee vote was largely along party lines, though a handful of Democrats crossed over. Getting to 60 will require some bipartisan deal-making, and the new stablecoin rewards language could be a sticking point.
Markets react — some tokens jump
Markets moved higher on the news. Bitcoin and Ethereum both rose, but the biggest pops came from regulatory-sensitive tokens. Hyperliquid gained around 11% as traders treat it as a high-beta bet on clearer rules for crypto trading and derivatives infrastructure. XDC and Canton each rose nearly 10%, reflecting investor interest in institutional blockchain rails, trade finance, and tokenization — areas that would benefit directly from a settled U.S. regulatory regime. The moves suggest the market sees this bill as more than just another committee markup.
The bill isn't law yet. But for the first time in a long while, the legislative path looks real enough to move prices.
