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ToggleJuly 4th, U.S. Independence Day, was originally intended by White House digital asset advisor Patrick Witt as a target date for the CLARITY Act legislation, hoping to inject a sense of ceremony into the birth of the crypto regulatory framework. However, veteran crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett pointed out earlier that "logistically, it's simply impossible."
In her post, Terrett broke down five things that needed to be accomplished simultaneously within two weeks in this legislative sprint:
- Find a solution with "ethical clauses" acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.
- Resolving the controversy surrounding the Agricultural Commission version of the text
- Version of the bill to merge the two committees
- To gather 60 votes and cross the threshold of a lengthy debate
- Then the bill will be voted on in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Each stage requires time to handle individually, and simultaneous advancement is virtually impossible in political physics.
The most important vote wasn't enough.
On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee passed the CLARITY Act by a vote of 15-9, marking a significant milestone in Senate crypto legislation. The bipartisan support of 13 Republican senators, along with Democrats Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, initially fueled optimism about the legislation's prospects. However, committee approval was only the first hurdle.
After entering the full Senate debate, the bill needs 60 votes to overcome the lengthy debate threshold, meaning that with their current seats, Republicans need at least 7 more Democratic senators to defect. Several senators have privately revealed that they have reservations about the July 4th deadline, believing that a more realistic timeline is the end of July or even the beginning of August.
Ethical Clauses: Hidden Landmines in the Trump Family's Encrypted Empire
The core issue preventing the vote count from being filled is the "ethics clause," a tough nut to crack. The Democratic Party has been pushing to include a clause that explicitly prohibits the president, vice president, other federal officials, and their families from engaging in or profiting from certain digital asset transactions.
This text, seemingly general, actually directly targets the Trump family's ever-expanding crypto empire, from memecoins to DeFi platforms, with intricate web of related interests.
For Republicans, accepting this clause would mean legally binding the president's family's business empire; for Democrats, omitting it would be tantamount to opening a back door for conflicts of interest. The two parties have virtually no common ground on this issue, which, Terrett observes, is precisely the most difficult emotional and political hurdle to overcome in the entire negotiation process.
Two versions, a massive integration project
Even if the ethical provisions miraculously find a solution, the bill itself still faces another integration challenge. Currently, there are two versions: the Banking Committee version focuses on the financial regulatory framework and disclosure requirements; the Agriculture Committee version addresses commodity classification and the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The two versions differ in regulatory philosophy and division of powers, and must first be consolidated into a single amendment before being sent to the full Senate for a vote.
This integration process requires repeated consultations between the staff teams of both committees and the congressional offices, and under normal legislative circumstances, this step alone could take several weeks. The deadline Terrett pointed out is only two weeks away.
Even if it passes, 2027 will be the real starting point.
It's worth noting that even if the July 4th deadline, which almost all observers considered impossible, is miraculously achieved, the crypto industry cannot assume the die is cast. The signing of the bill into law only creates a framework; the enforceable details won't be available until 2027.
After the bill is passed, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC, and the Treasury Department will still need to draft their own rules, complete a 30 to 90-day comment period, revise them based on industry feedback, and then release the final version.
According to the standard operating procedures of the Federal Administrative Procedure Act, from legislation to the implementation of detailed rules, it will conservatively take at least a year. In other words, even in the most optimistic scenario, the market will not have a truly workable regulatory basis until 2027. For the crypto industry, the legislative milestone of the CLARITY Act is certainly important, but focusing all attention on the July 4th date may only lead to a disappointing expectation management error.
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