Senate releases 309-page CLARITY Act draft ahead of May 14

The Senate Banking Committee released a 309-page updated draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act, and set a committee markup vote for May 14. The draft is 31 pages longer than a January version and outlines a statutory market structure for digital assets.

The revised bill assigns the Securities and Exchange Commission oversight of initial token offerings and new token sales. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission would regulate secondary market trading that occurs on exchanges after a token’s launch. The draft creates defined jurisdictional lines between the two agencies.

A stablecoin yield provision negotiated by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks is included in the update. The text bars yields on stablecoins that operate like bank deposit rates while allowing room for what the bill calls “bona fide activities.” Coinbase and Circle publicly backed the compromise, and more than 100 crypto firms signed a joint letter urging the committee to advance the measure.

The draft adds cybersecurity and compliance standards for centralized intermediaries that interact with decentralized finance protocols. It also contains explicit protections for open-source software developers and for peer-to-peer transactions to address concerns about exposing individual developers to regulatory liability.

Committee staff reported that scoring issues with the Congressional Budget Office were resolved before the markup, removing one procedural hurdle. If the committee approves the bill on May 14, it would move to the full Senate for consideration.

The markup takes place the same week the House Ways and Means Committee holds a bipartisan closed-door session on crypto tax reform, a parallel legislative effort. Analysts tracking the process project that, unless there are major complications or extensive floor amendments, the legislation could be enacted before the end of 2026.

The scheduled May 14 committee vote is the next formal milestone on the path toward a potential Senate floor vote and further negotiations.