Months of negotiations have brought the CLARITY Act to its final review stage, with Senator Cynthia Lummis confirming a July 4 release of the updated text ahead of a Senate push later in July.
Summary
- Senator Cynthia Lummis said the final CLARITY Act text will be released around July 4 for public review.
- Senate leaders are working to schedule floor consideration of the crypto market structure bill in July.
- Law enforcement groups and anti-trafficking advocates continue to oppose Section 604 over AML and oversight concerns.
According to Lummis, who spoke with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Senate negotiators are preparing to publish the updated legislative text after months of discussions involving lawmakers, industry stakeholders, and banking representatives. She said the bill will be made available for one final round of feedback before lawmakers seek a Senate floor vote later in July.
Speaking during the interview, Lummis said negotiations on the legislation have been ongoing since last Labor Day and have required extensive work to address concerns raised throughout the drafting process. She stated that lawmakers spent thousands of hours examining issues tied to both the CLARITY Act and the recently debated GENIUS Act while also considering objections raised by parts of the banking industry.
Following the publication of the text, Lummis said Senate leadership is working to secure floor time next month. She added that discussions with Senate Majority Leader John Thune are focused on placing the legislation on the chamber’s July agenda.
Senate prepares next step for crypto market structure bill
The expected release comes as lawmakers continue refining a framework intended to establish regulatory boundaries for digital asset markets in the United States.
During the interview, Lummis pushed back against criticism from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who had argued that the bill could allow crypto companies to offer rewards programs resembling interest-bearing banking products without being subject to the same safeguards as traditional financial institutions.
Responding to those concerns, Lummis said the criticism does not accurately reflect the legislation’s current language. She pointed to Section 301 of the bill, which she said was revised during negotiations to address issues raised by banks and regulators.
According to Lummis, the updated provisions ensure that rewards offered by crypto firms are not linked to account balances in a way that resembles interest payments. She also said the legislation includes additional anti-money laundering measures that were incorporated during the drafting process.
Her remarks come as lawmakers continue balancing demands from the crypto industry with concerns raised by traditional financial institutions over consumer protections and regulatory consistency.
Section 604 continues to attract opposition
While Senate negotiators move toward publication of the final text, several organizations have recently urged lawmakers to reconsider another part of the legislation.
As crypto.news previously reported, four law enforcement organizations sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and White House digital assets adviser Patrick Witt, warning that Section 604 could create regulatory gaps and make investigations involving digital assets more difficult. The groups argued that the provision could weaken Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering requirements compared with standards applied in traditional finance.
Section 604 incorporates the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act and would prevent certain non-custodial participants, including open-source developers, self-custody tool providers, software contributors, and some decentralized finance infrastructure operators, from automatically being classified as money transmitters.
Separately, the Alliance to End Human Trafficking urged Senate Republican Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to revisit the same provision. The organization said the proposed language could create ambiguities that complicate efforts to monitor financial activity linked to human trafficking, organized crime, child exploitation, sanctions evasion, and other illicit conduct.
Those objections add to the list of issues lawmakers are weighing as the CLARITY Act enters what Lummis described as its final public review phase before Senate consideration.
