The Clarity Act's long stay in legislative limbo needs to end

• Key insight: The future of on-chain finance in the U.S. is dependent on there being statutory certainty about the rules of the road. The Clarity Act may not be perfect, but passing it is essential to maintaining U.S. leadership in the field.
• What's at stake: Where the next generation of financial innovation gets built will depend, in part, on what happens with the Clarity Act.
• Supporting data: According to Polymarket, the odds of the Clarity Act being signed into law this year fell below 20% on Polymarket early this week.

Having hope for the Clarity Act is like being on a roller coaster. The bill has been punted to September now that the Senate has officially adjourned for the August recess. And while they weren't able to lock in a vote before they recessed, Senate Majority Leader Thune scheduled one at the last minute for Sept. 15, keeping hope alive for the bill.

It was a wild ride last week, with news reports coming out almost hourly about how the bill was dead or alive, leaving the public wondering how this would ultimately end up. Despite progress on the substance of the bill, with the recently released merged text that combines the Banking and Agriculture Committee versions, we still can't seem to clear the deck. Even prediction markets have noticed the drift, with the odds of the act being signed into law this year falling below 20% on Polymarket early this week.

But I am an optimist. Always have been. I have worked around the beltway for the last 13 years and have been fortunate enough to engage in bill writing from both inside and outside the government. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the headlines of the day in a way that blurs what's really happening behind the scenes, which has been the case for the Clarity Act. For all the setbacks, though, the forward progress has been just as promising. The bill already passed the House in 2025 by a wide bipartisan margin and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 in May.

We need to take it to the finish line.

Congress cannot let the perfect become the enemy of the good on Clarity. The bill is not flawless, but holding out for a flawless bill comes with a real cost. We won't simply be waiting a little longer to get it right. It will certainly mean months, and could mean years, of the industry operating under agency guidance rather than statute, with the consequences compounding quietly until they aren't quiet anymore.

We are at a genuine make-or-break moment, and moments like this reward pragmatism. The Senate, for better or worse, relies on deadlines to force action, and the last clear one we have is Sept. 30, before Congress fully turns to campaigns and partisanship wins the day. Senators run the real risk of losing the momentum the Clarity Act has produced these last 11 months, leaving this legislation to be kicked down the road. We may not get another window like this one, and the realistic alternative is that Congress' hand eventually gets forced by a disaster, a collapse, a fraud, or a systemic event that makes inaction impossible. It's a terrible way to legislate, out of fear rather than strength.

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Senators have been working around the clock to come to an agreement on open questions still surrounding the bill: protections for software developers who write code while preserving law enforcement's ability to prosecute bad actors, a bipartisan counteroffer on ethics to potentially expand enforcement authority to states and provide independent oversight, and continued lobbying efforts to relitigate stablecoin yield. These are very important discussions, but the reality is that every month of delayed action is another month issuers and exchanges spend operating under short-term agency guidance rather than long-term established statute.

It is worth stepping back from the vote count and the legislative calendar to see what is really at stake here. Where the next generation of financial innovation gets built will depend, in part, on what happens with the Clarity Act. Passing a bill helps keep this innovation in the United States, along with the capital, the jobs, and the technical talent that will be built on a framework of American standards rather than ceding that ground to jurisdictions overseas. The long game is creating a durable foundation for economic activity that compounds over decades, rather than a headline that fades with the news cycle.

I also don't think crypto needs to stay confined to the financial sector. I know these arguments feel passé to those who have been in the industry since the beginning, but crypto revolutionizes both financial and nonfinancial industries alike. Whether it's finding better approaches for supply chains; democratizing the internet; data tracking and interoperability; shared ownership and digital co-ops; or just moving value faster, more efficiently, and more securely, we shouldn't count this technology out before we can fully see its benefits.

In the current political atmosphere, passing monumental legislation can seem out of reach. But I've learned from seasoned professionals here in D.C. that there will always be another bite at the apple. There will always be more bills to come and more packages to work through. And while that can bring comfort and a bit of breathing room for this moment, this industry does not need another few years of being in the gray zone. This is a moment that can move us toward technological innovations that will help lower costs and bring more opportunities for American consumers and builders alike. We can't allow all the work that has been put into this effort to be for naught.

This industry has proven its resilience, and the market will keep growing whether the Clarity Act passes or not. But the U.S. can be a leader here. At the end of the day, Congress is a member-driven body, and passing landmark bills requires real give-and-take, which I think everyone who has been working toward passing the Clarity Act has shown. It was not that long ago that other far-reaching pieces of legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act successfully defied the odds, and I remain optimistic that we can and will see similar progress here.