tl;dr
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott expects 12 to 18 Democrats to support comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation, seeking bipartisan backing ahead of a bill introduction in September. This follows the House's July 17 passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which defines SEC and CF...
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott anticipates that 12 to 18 Democrats will back comprehensive cryptocurrency market legislation. He is holding meetings with Democratic members, including those outside the Banking Committee, to foster bipartisan support ahead of the expected bill introduction in September.
Scott’s efforts align with the House’s earlier passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on July 17, which received significant Democratic support in a 294-134 vote. This House bill delineates jurisdictional boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while establishing registration frameworks for qualifying digital asset platforms.
On July 22, Scott along with Senators Cynthia Lummis, Bill Hagerty, and Bernie Moreno introduced a discussion draft of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025. This Senate proposal builds on the House’s CLARITY Act by defining ancillary asset classes, modernizing disclosure requirements, and adding banking provisions that permit financial holding companies to offer digital asset services.
The regulatory framework outlined by the CLARITY Act mandates SEC and CFTC coordination via joint registration for platforms listing tokens that meet decentralization and public float criteria. Tokens on qualifying networks would be exempted from securities laws if sufficient decentralization is proved. Token disclosure requirements would scale with market capitalization, and issuers selling in the U.S. must submit initial information statements.
Banking supervisors are directed to recognize qualified custodians managing stablecoins and digital assets under unified segregation and audit standards. This framework also introduces coordinated custody requirements for platforms handling spot and derivatives trading, shared between the SEC and CFTC. The Senate draft further expands on ancillary asset classifications exempting certain sales under $75 million annually and refining federal investment contract definitions. It also establishes transparency requirements both pre- and post-launch for digital asset issuers.
Senator Lummis emphasized that clear regulation is crucial to preventing American innovation from moving overseas, underscoring the legislation’s role in differentiating digital asset securities from commodities and modernizing regulatory oversight. Senator Hagerty highlighted that outdated laws and regulatory uncertainty have stifled innovation and left consumers vulnerable.
To complement these legislative efforts, the Banking Committee issued a Request for Information covering over 35 topics, seeking public input to guide the rulemaking process and inform the development of final legislation.