BlackRock backs CLARITY Act as Senate races August deadline

BlackRock announced its endorsement of the CLARITY Act, adding the world’s largest asset manager to a list of financial firms pressing for federal rules on digital assets as the Senate faces a tightening legislative calendar. Senators are reconciling versions from committee and racing to move the bill ahead of an August recess.

Samara Cohen, BlackRock’s Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Market Development, described the legislation as “an important step toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets that puts investors first,” saying it would support innovation while preserving transparency, resilience and investor protections.

Other major financial firms have signaled support for clearer digital-asset rules. Fidelity has urged Senate approval, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has endorsed the framework, and Charles Schwab has said clearer rules could accelerate digital asset adoption among traditional investors.

Senate Republicans released updated CLARITY Act text that merges work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned the chamber’s work is likely to extend beyond the August recess, underscoring a limited window for action this year.

Passage faces procedural hurdles. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome filibusters and other procedural barriers. Some policy analysts have lowered the estimated chance that the bill will pass this year to about 30 percent because it must secure bipartisan support.

Advocacy groups are increasing pressure on senators. Stand With Crypto reported more than 925,000 emails to Congress in 2025 and over 1.1 million contacts since its founding, and it plans to add every Senate vote on the CLARITY Act to a public scorecard for its roughly three million registered members.

The CLARITY Act would assign defined responsibilities to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for different segments of the digital-asset market. The proposal would require certain token issuers that rely on exemptions to provide disclosures about their blockchain systems, operations and token distributions, mandate more standardized information for investors before they buy covered digital assets, and create clearer registration and trading pathways for compliant businesses.

Those provisions could affect which tokens appear on regulated platforms, how exchanges custody customer assets, and what crypto services banks and other traditional firms can offer. With committee reconciliation underway and public pressure increasing, senators have a narrow period to secure the bipartisan votes needed to advance the measure.