The CLARITY Act, one of the most consequential pieces of cryptocurrency legislation in the United States, is facing a growing risk of failure.
Republican senators have reportedly warned that the bill may not have enough support to advance next week.
According to media outlet Semafor, there had been little progress on the key Democratic demand for stronger ethics language.
The CLARITY Act, which has outlined an ambitious framework for cryptocurrencies, has been one of the crypto industry’s biggest legislative priorities in Washington.
Expecting a failure
Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota claims that things do not “look good” when it comes to the bill’s odds of passage.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has opined that the bill is going to fail if there is no compromise.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland recently indicated that she would not back the legislation without tougher ethics language.
The Senate’s latest version of the legislation already contains an ethics section. That compromise, however, has apparently failed to settle the dispute.
The Senate had originally been expected to move on the CLARITY Act earlier; Senate Majority Leader John Thune previously said lawmakers intended to take the bill up after returning to Washington.
That delay has left lawmakers with considerably less time to find a compromise, and the upcoming midterms will gobble up all the attention soon.
There is now only a 15% chance that the CLARITY Act becomes law this year.
As reported by U.Today, the CLARITY Act could be delayed until after the midterm elections because House Republicans have sharply shortened the September legislative session.
Democrats would be responsible
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, one of the Senate’s most prominent cryptocurrency advocates, believes that Democrats would bear responsibility if the legislation collapses.
“If this bill fails, it won’t be because of ethics; it will be because Democrats didn’t join Republicans in embracing a bipartisan bill that protected consumers, cements America’s leadership in digital assets, and empowered law enforcement to clamp down on illicit finance,” Lummis said.
The senator maintained that a deal remains possible despite the pessimism.
“If we can bridge those gaps, I’m confident we can pass Clarity, but they require further compromise from Democrats, not the White House,” she said.
Lummis has also warned that failure this year could mean that there will be no comprehensive crypto regulation until 2030.
