Senate won't vote on crypto Clarity Act before its summer break

The U.S. Senate will not vote on the crypto market structure bill before it breaks for the rest of the month, but industry leaders still hope for a vote in September, when the Senate returns to Washington, D.C., multiple individuals following the legislation told CoinDesk.

The crypto industry hoped that the Senate would stay in session for a few more days to resolve outstanding issues, including the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, but Senators from both parties had major unresolved issues on the legislation. The Senate will return to D.C. on Sept. 14, 2026, and will have three weeks to work on this and other outstanding issues then.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed in a statement through a spokesperson that there would not be a vote on Clarity in August, but that there would be one next month.

"The Dems are insistent on no Clarity vote... I worked with sponsors of the bill. [Senator Cynthia Lummis] was great, and we’re getting that queued up first thing when we come back," the statement posted on social media said.

The Senate will hold votes on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through the midterm election; a Russia sanctions bill championed by and now named after Senator Lindsey Graham; and a group of nominations on Friday morning, the last day before it is scheduled to leave.

Politico first reported late Thursday that the Senate did not expect to hold a first vote on Clarity before the recess.

In a statement shared with CoinDesk, crypto trade group Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said, "while this isn’t the result any of us hoped for when we began the week, the fight is far from over. The next few weeks we will continue to work to find the last pieces of common ground needed to set up a successful vote when Congress returns in September."

Ji Hun Kim, the CEO of fellow crypto trade group Crypto Council for Innovation, called the delay "disappointing" in a statement, adding, "There has been tremendous progress on the Clarity Act thanks to the efforts of so many … CCI remains committed to ensuring the U.S. enacts comprehensive market structure legislation that protects Americans. Every day without such a framework pushes American users and builders offshore and leaves consumers at risk."

The Clarity Act got bogged down alongside a number of other issues the Senate is currently facing, including a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, a Russian sanctions bill, a block of nominations and the individual nomination of Todd Blanche for attorney general. Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced late Thursday that the Senate would proceed to votes on the first three of those on Friday at 10:00 a.m. (as well as an amendment vote for the sanctions bill), suggesting he had time agreements — agreements to limit how long debate would last on each — for those votes.

The Clarity Act did not have any time agreement, individuals following the bill told CoinDesk earlier Thursday.

One source familiar told CoinDesk late Thursday that Senate Democrats did not want to have to vote on the bill prior to the midterm election, and would have delayed the rest of the Senate's agenda if Clarity wasn't punted to next month.

To be successful, the bill would need 60 votes in favor. It's unclear if it even has 50 votes as of press time, with multiple Republican senators publicly announcing their opposition and Democrats continuing to call for President Donald Trump to agree to a stricter ethics provision than exists in the bill today.