On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee passed the Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 3633) by a 15-9 bipartisan vote. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) called the vote a “historic step forward for digital asset innovation.”

The bill now advances toward a full Senate floor vote.

Source: Senator Lummis press release, May 14, 2026.

What the CLARITY Act Does

The Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act establishes the first comprehensive legislative framework for digital assets in the United States. Its central function is to divide oversight jurisdiction between the SEC and the CFTC, ending the jurisdictional ambiguity that has defined US crypto regulation for the past decade.

The SEC retains authority over digital assets that meet the definition of securities. The CFTC takes jurisdiction over digital commodities, which is a category that includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most established cryptocurrencies. The line between the two is drawn by a functional test: whether the asset represents an investment contract backed by managerial efforts, or whether it is a commodity that functions independently of a central issuer.

The bill builds directly on the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act, first introduced in 2022 and reintroduced in 2023, and incorporates the July 2025 Senate discussion draft released by Senators Lummis, Scott, Hagerty, and Moreno.

Why the Committee Vote Matters

Committee passage is a meaningful threshold. It signals that the bill has survived bipartisan negotiation, cleared internal committee opposition, and has the institutional momentum to reach the Senate floor. A 15-9 vote, with support from both sides of the aisle, is a stronger signal than a party-line result would have been.

The bill still requires a full Senate floor vote, reconciliation with any House version, and presidential signature before becoming law. But the committee passage removes the most significant procedural barrier that had blocked comprehensive crypto market structure legislation for years.

Chairman Scott’s role in moving the bill through committee is notable. Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) has prioritized digital asset legislation as part of a broader push to establish US leadership in digital finance. His active support gives the bill institutional backing that extends beyond its primary sponsor.

The SEC-CFTC Division: What It Means in Practice

The jurisdictional split between the SEC and CFTC is the most consequential structural element of the bill for institutional participants.

Under the current framework, which has operated largely through enforcement actions and court rulings rather than legislation, the regulatory status of most digital assets has been contested and unpredictable. The SEC has pursued an expansive interpretation of securities law, treating most tokens as securities subject to its jurisdiction. The CFTC has asserted commodity jurisdiction over Bitcoin and Ethereum. Courts have produced inconsistent results.

The CLARITY Act resolves this by establishing a statutory test. Assets that are sufficiently decentralized and function independently of managerial efforts are commodities under CFTC jurisdiction. Assets that remain dependent on a central issuer’s efforts for their value are securities under SEC jurisdiction. The bill also establishes pathways for assets to transition from securities classification to commodity classification as projects mature and decentralize.

For institutional participants (exchanges, asset managers, banks, and corporate treasury operators) this creates the regulatory certainty that has been absent. Institutions can structure products, custody arrangements, and compliance programs against a defined legal standard rather than regulatory guidance that could shift with enforcement priorities.

What It Means for Stablecoins

The CLARITY Act addresses stablecoins as a distinct category, consistent with the framework established by the GENIUS Act. Payment stablecoins are excluded from the securities definition and treated as a separate regulated instrument. The bill’s passage reinforces the overall architecture of US digital asset policy: Bitcoin and commodities under CFTC, securities tokens under SEC, and stablecoins under a dedicated payment instrument framework.

This three-part structure is now anchored by two separate legislative milestones, the GENIUS Act’s stablecoin framework and the CLARITY Act’s market structure, rather than resting on regulatory guidance alone.

The Asia Context

For institutions operating across Asian markets, the committee passage has practical implications beyond US jurisdiction.

US legislative standards function as a global benchmark. When the US establishes a clear legal framework for digital asset classification, it reduces the risk premium that non-US institutions apply to digital asset exposure and creates a reference point for regulators in markets that look to US standards when developing their own frameworks.

Asian jurisdictions that have been developing digital asset regulation have each been navigating the same fundamental questions the CLARITY Act addresses: who regulates what, and under what standard. A functioning US framework does not resolve those questions for Asian regulators, but it provides a reference architecture that most sophisticated regulators will engage with.

For Sora Ventures’ portfolio companies and partners, the more immediate implication is that US-connected institutional capital now has a clearer legal pathway for digital asset exposure. That capital represents a meaningful portion of the institutional investment pool that Asian Bitcoin treasury companies and digital asset platforms seek to access.

What Comes Next

The bill moves to the full Senate for a floor vote. Timing is uncertain since Senate floor scheduling depends on competing legislative priorities and the calendar. The bill will also need to be reconciled with any House version of digital asset market structure legislation before going to the President for signature.

The GENIUS Act stablecoin framework, which passed the Senate earlier in 2025 and is now in implementation through FDIC and Treasury rulemaking, demonstrates that this legislative pathway is functional. The CLARITY Act still faces some hurdles, but has political pressure from the White House to pass by July 4.

The Sora Ventures Perspective

Sora Ventures has tracked the progression of US digital asset market structure legislation closely because it defines the institutional operating environment that shapes capital flows into the asset class globally. The committee passage of the CLARITY Act is the most significant structural development in US digital asset regulation since the GENIUS Act’s passage, and it represents the culmination of years of legislative effort to resolve the jurisdictional ambiguity that has constrained institutional participation.

We do not view this as the end of the regulatory process, but the committee vote signals that comprehensive US digital asset market structure law is no longer a question of whether, but when.