Lummis Warns Crypto Rules Broken as CLARITY Vote Delayed

Sen. Cynthia Lummis renewed her push for the CLARITY Act on Aug. 7 after Senate leaders delayed a planned vote, urging colleagues to complete months of negotiations so digital asset firms can operate under clear federal rules and consumers can be better protected.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed the chamber would not hold the vote until September, after lawmakers had expected to use the remaining work period to advance the bill. Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, noted lawmakers spent 11 months negotiating and had incorporated more than 300 pages of edits requested by Democrats.

The CLARITY Act, filed as H.R. 3633, was reported out of the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 by a 15-9 vote. The legislation seeks to establish market-structure rules for digital assets, strengthen customer protections and clarify which federal agencies oversee different parts of the market.

Negotiators have highlighted several unresolved items, including how to allocate authorities for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, provisions for law enforcement access to data, and ethics rules for senior federal officials.

A central consumer protection in the bill would treat covered customer cash and crypto as customer property and require those assets to be segregated from company funds. The measure also proposes a clearer process for resolving ownership claims if exchanges fail. The proposal cites the Celsius bankruptcy, where roughly 600,000 Earn accounts held about $4.2 billion at the start of proceedings, as an example of the issues the bill aims to address.

On July 22 Lummis released updated CLARITY Act text that combined elements from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. In a post on X, she framed three priorities: workable rules for legitimate crypto businesses, protection for consumers from scams and fraud, and stronger tools for law enforcement to pursue illicit activity. In the same post she wrote, “You all know me and how long and hard I’ve fought for this bill… we’ve come too far to quit now.” She added that she would continue working with colleagues to get the bill to a vote.

With committee action complete and revised legislative language circulated, attention now turns to whether senators can turn months of negotiation into floor support when they return in September. Lummis warned that failure to act in the current window could delay a full congressional solution until 2030, leaving market participants and regulators to operate under the existing legal framework for years.