Senate Republicans Aim to Advance Digital Asset Market Structure Bill

Senate Republicans reportedly updated their draft of a crypto market structure bill, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, to mirror parts of the CLARITY Act that was passed by the House.

The updated draft of the Senate bill clarifies whether digital assets will be regulated as securities or commodities, Seeking Alpha reported Monday (Sept. 8).

Republicans plan to advance the bill from the Senate Banking Committee this month, though they have not reached a bipartisan deal to pass it in the full Senate, according to the report.

CNBC reported Friday (Sept. 5) that the updated draft of the bill would prevent securities from being treated as commodities when tokenized as digital assets and crypto.

The report noted that the Senate bill will need to be combined with the one the House passed in July and will need to gain support from at least seven Senate Democrats before it can be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, told CNBC Thursday (Sept. 4) that bipartisan discussions are underway.

Lummis added, per the report, that she expects the Senate Banking Committee to vote this month on the part of the bill related to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Senate Agriculture Commitee to vote in October on the part related to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the full Senate to vote as soon as November on the bill.

The House approved the CLARITY Act on July 17 on a 294-134 vote, setting it up to be considered by the Senate.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Arkansas, said at the time that the CLARITY Act “establishes clear rules of the road by creating a functional regulatory framework for digital assets.”

It was reported at the time that the fate of the CLARITY Act in the Senate remained uncertain because Democrats who had supported the bill in committee in the House had begun to back away under pressure from liberal members and party activists.

PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Sept. 2) that the CLARITY Act is the clearest attempt yet to meet the demand for a coherent market structure for digital assets in the United States.