Senate Leaves Crypto Market-Structure Bill Off the Floor With Days Left Before Recess

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act would divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It still has no vote on the Senate floor schedule. CoinDesk laid out the remaining procedural paths. Leadership would need to file this week to set up a Friday vote on ending debate on the motion to proceed, and even a successful vote there only starts a timed period under Senate rules rather than passing the bill. The chamber's last scheduled workday before the state work period is 7 August.

The obstacle is the ethics language rather than the market-structure text itself. Senator Thom Tillis said the White House is now engaging on the bipartisan draft that he and Senator Ruben Gallego sent last week. That draft would restrict digital-asset dealings by senior officials and their families. Bitcoin Magazine reported that the text is under review at the White House ahead of the deadline.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill's main proponents, framed failure in partisan terms, saying that "if Clarity dies, Democrats killed it" and that some members still want delay. Hester Peirce, the SEC commissioner who leads the agency's crypto task force, said separately that she remains hopeful the bill passes. The Senate Banking Committee advanced the measure 15-9 in May, and a merged 616-page text appeared on 22 July.

If the Senate leaves without acting, the bill is not withdrawn. It waits until the recess ends in September, in an election year in which floor time is harder to obtain.