US Senate Sets September Vote to Advance Major Crypto Bill

The Senate will vote in September on whether to move forward with the CLARITY Act, a landmark bill to regulate crypto in the US.

The US Senate is preparing to take a big step on crypto regulation. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed something called a cloture — a formal move that sets up a vote in September on whether lawmakers should even begin debating a major crypto bill.

What is the CLARITY Act? The CLARITY Act is considered a landmark (major, first-of-its-kind) piece of US crypto law. If it becomes law, it would:

Create clear nationwide rules for digital assets (cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum)
Decide when a crypto asset counts as a security (an investment like a stock) or a commodity (a tradeable good like gold or oil)
Split oversight duties between two regulators: the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, which watches over stocks) and the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which watches over commodities)

Right now, crypto companies often don't know which rules apply to them, so this bill aims to end the confusion.

One important catch The cloture vote is *not* the same as passing the bill. A cloture simply asks lawmakers: "Should we take up this bill and discuss it?" Even if it passes, the CLARITY Act would still need a separate final vote to become law.

Why negotiations stalled Progress has been slow because of proposed ethics rules. These rules would stop government officials — and their families — from creating or making money off cryptocurrencies while in office.

To break the deadlock, lawmakers from both parties are reportedly working on an ethics addendum (an extra section added to the bill). According to Bloomberg, part of this deal would require President Donald Trump to sell off (divest from) certain crypto-related businesses, addressing concerns about his personal financial interests in the industry.

The bottom line This is real progress for US crypto regulation, but it's far from a done deal. The September cloture vote is just the first hurdle — the bill still has a long road ahead before it could become law.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-senate-clarity-act-september-vote-thune-cloture?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound