Amidst the waning optimism surrounding the CLARITY Act voting on 15th September, a new development has emerged.
Senate Republicans have released a 630-page legislative amendment to H.R. 3633 text, including all the changes negotiated over the August recess. However, these changes do not appear to be the final compromise needed to win enough Democratic support.
Most of the bill remains close to earlier versions. Its central goal remains clearer SEC and CFTC oversight of U.S. crypto activities.
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What changed in the CLARITY Act?
That said, one of the major changes revolves around an attempt to to clarify when a decentralized finance (DeFi) project would actually have to register with the CFTC and comply with Bank Secrecy Act requirements.
Lawmakers still face a fundamental problem in regulating decentralized protocols without traditional companies behind them. The draft stated that these provisions cover spot-market and cash transactions involving digital commodities.
Prediction markets were excluded. That distinction could stop DeFi rules from unintentionally extending to prediction-market contracts.
Waning hope around approval
Nevertheless, despite these changes, the CLARITY Act’s 2026 approval odds look incredibly feeble.
Confirming the sentiment were the Polymarket odds, which were sitting at 18% at the time of publication, even though they showed a slight improvement over the odds a day earlier.
Roadblocks in the way of approval
This futher coincided with AMBCrypto covering that the House of Representatives has canceled the voting sessions originally scheduled for the 21st and and 28th of September—indirectly postponing the CLARITY Act approval.
Hence, expressing frustration on the matter, Senator Cynthia Lummis argued that Democrats played a major role in shaping the CLARITY Act and therefore should support the bill when it comes to a vote.
In fact, Senator Lummis recently warned that failing to pass the market structure bill during the current Congress could push the legislation back for years, potentially until 2030.
President Donald Trump also pressed lawmakers to pass the CLARITY Act. However, his administration faces conflict-of-interest questions after Trump reportedly earned $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025.
All in all, the revised draft showed progress, but the hardest political disputes remained unresolved.
Is the CLARITY Act that essential?
This coincided with Zach Pandl, Grayscale Head of Research, recently stating,
Crypto Regulation Becoming Clearer Even Without CLARITY
Pandl believes progress is already being made through other measures. This includes the GENIUS Act providing rules for stablecoins, the SEC working on clearer rules for token fundraising and tokenized securities, and the CFTC developing regulated pathways for crypto perpetual futures.
Final Summary
- Senate Republic has come up with an updated version of the CLARITY Act text with major changes around DeFi projects’ registration.
- The Polymarket odds and limited voting schedule suggest the CLARITY Act is unlikely to be approved in 2026.
