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The crypto industry scored an important victory on Thursday when a Senate committee approved the Clarity Act, the first broad bill related to the new industry.
The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9, mostly along party lines, with Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona joining all Republicans on the committee in voting for the bill.
The bill has a long way to go, given both the strong opposition and the fact that it needs to be passed by all members of the Senate, not just the House, before it can reach President Donald Trump’s desk.
During the hearing, both Republicans and Democrats pledged to continue working on areas of disagreement, including the best way to ensure bad actors using digital assets are caught and ethical language for dealing with elected officials like Trump who profit from cryptocurrencies.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), one of several Democrats working with Republicans on the bill, said he had been in “crypto hell for the last few months” but wanted to continue working on the bill and “reach crypto heaven.”
“I think I’m in crypto purgatory right now, but I’m looking forward to getting there,” he said.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, speaks during a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Washington, DC.
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RS.C. Chairman Tim Scott said it was important to move forward with measures to provide guidance and standards for the cryptocurrency industry.
“For years, the digital frontier has been trapped in a regulatory gray area,” Scott said at the hearing. “Developers, entrepreneurs and investors were left with uncertainty. They faced confusion and enforcement action when instead the government should have developed clear rules of the road.”
This bill was supported by numerous cryptocurrency companies, including: coinbaseCircle and Ripple want some level of regulation and oversight of the industry to encourage investors. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is also a major backer.
The White House has also been pushing for the bill, and at times has been active in negotiations between banks and crypto groups. Trump and his family made billions of dollars with meme coins and cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial.
But the bill has opponents in the banking, law enforcement and labor union sectors.
The banking industry has raised concerns that the move could allow crypto groups to offer interest-like payments to stablecoin holders, leading to a decline in bank deposits and a lack of capital for lending. The cryptocurrency industry said the measure would only allow rewards if stablecoins are used.
Law enforcement groups say the bill does not do enough to prevent illegal financial transactions through digital assets and would make it harder to catch bad actors.
Major labor groups, including the AFL-CIO, warned senators that efforts to legalize cryptocurrencies could threaten financial stability and, in turn, threaten retirement and pension accounts.
During committee meetings, Democratic senators proposed amendments to address some of these issues, but all were rejected or Scott did not allow them, saying they were not written correctly.
If the bill can pass the Senate, it would also need to be passed by the House, which approved another bill last fall.
