Regulators in the U.S. are targeting a May date to bring the much awaited CLARITY Act to the markup table. Michael Selig, the chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), hinted at this possible May markup of the U.S. crypto market structure bill during a televized interview on Monday.
Selig has ensured that all hands are on deck to get Clarity across the finish line.
During an interview with CNBC, Selig was asked if the CLARITY Act was dead or if there were any chances that the bill could be passed prior to the mid-term elections slated for November this year.
“We’re hoping for a markup this month, and hopefully next month we can get this on the floor for a vote and maybe ring in the 250th anniversary with some crypto legislation. What happens if we don’t get,” the CFTC chief said.
Over the last five months, U.S. regulators have been meeting with members from the crypto sector to negotiate on the proposed guidelines that are intended to shape up the crypto market ecosystem in the world’s largest market holding the capitalization of over $71 trillion.
If the bill now manages to reach the markup stage this month, as suggested by Selig, regulators and industry players would finalize if any major amendments to the draft bill need to be incorporated before it heads to the Senate for a vote.
The Senate committees of banking and agriculture — which respectively govern the SEC and the CFTC in the U.S. — have been collectively working on drafting the CLARITY Act. In January this year, a bill proposal was finalized but it saw major pushback from industry players including Coinbase.
At the time, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had red flagged multiple elements of the bill, particularly the proposal to kill yeilds on stablecoin holding. According to Armstrong, such provisions could stifle the position of crypto in competition with traditional banks that allow users to incur yeilds on their fiat holdings.
Last week, U.S. lawmakers agreed to preserve stablecoin reward programmes under certain conditions. This would incentivize investors on holding stablecoins thus keeping their ecosystems stable and use-worthy.
The development left a positive impact on the market, pushing assets like BTC, USDC, and the USDT up the price ladder over the weekend.
The CLARITY Act is aimed at establishing a federal regulatory oversight over U.S.’ crypto sector giving it a stronger structure with clearer asset categories, firmer investor protection guardrails, and ensuring comprehensive market integrity.
In February, the White House had given regulators the deadline of March 1 to finalize the CLARITY Act by. Owing to gro-political tensions, protests against President Donald Trump in the U.S., and upheaval in the broader markets — the bill continued to face snags in its passing.
As of now, a definitive timeline for the bill to pass remains unclear.
