The delay in passing the CLARITY Act has left the crypto market anxious.
Otherwise, the United States could lose its current momentum in crypto market-structure legislation for several years.
Why is 2026 crucial for the CLARITY Act passage?
After years of uncertainty and negotiations, lawmakers now have an opportunity to create a comprehensive framework rather than continuing to rely largely on existing laws, agency interpretations, and enforcement actions.
She said,
If the Clarity Act doesn’t pass this Congress, the next real opportunity to bring market structure legislation back up is 2030. That’s years of jobs, investment, and tax revenue we can avoid squandering if we finish this now.
This is because upcoming elections could change the makeup of Congress, committee leadership, and lawmakers’ priorities, potentially forcing the crypto industry to restart negotiations and build another bipartisan coalition.
All in all, Lummis is essentially arguing that Congress has already spent considerable time working through these disagreements, so abandoning the legislation now could mean losing years of progress.
Here’s why Sen. Lummis wants the bill to pass
In fact, recently Lummis also emphasized the fact that under the current system, if a crypto exchange goes bankrupt, customers may have to compete with lawyers and other creditors to recover their crypto. This means they could receive only part of what they originally held.
The CLARITY Act aims to change this by legally treating certain digital commodities as customer property, rather than as assets that belong to the exchange.
The Clarity Act ensures consumers’ assets are protected just like they would be with traditional finance. By making digital commodities customer property, my bill ensures people get their funds back first.
FUD remains
This comes after AMBCrypto reported that the House of Representatives canceled the voting sessions originally scheduled for the 21st and and 28th of September.
As a result, the CLARITY Act vote has been pushed back because the House of Representatives has only a limited number of voting days in mid-September before lawmakers leave Washington for the election campaign. Even if the Senate passes the bill quickly, the House may not have enough time to consider and vote on it.
Additionally, the Polymarket odds sitting at 17% at press time have further added fuel to the uncertainty around the act.
However, with the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) withdrawing its opposition to the bill, hope remains.
Final Summary
- Lummis believes that after years of uncertainty, lawmakers now have an opportunity to create a comprehensive framework.
- The dropping Polymarket odds still inject FUD around the market structure bill.
