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The Clarity Act, which would further regulate and legitimize digital assets, was poised to pass after a senator backed out of a contested amendment to the bill. Republican Roger Marshall backed out of a politically charged provision that would force credit cards to compete on swipe fees, according to Politico.
Last week, Senator Marshall tabled the amendment regarding credit card fees, but said over the weekend he would waive that provision, Politico reported, citing anonymous sources. Other Republicans reportedly opposed the measure, creating an obstacle to the advancement of broader crypto legislation.
Marshall’s withdrawal is good news for the crypto industry after weeks of uncertainty surrounding the bill. The Clarity Act, which has drawn bipartisan support, is intended to be a new stamp of approval for digital assets by Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration. The bill aims to integrate blockchain-based assets and technologies into the broader financial system.
The legislation was supposed to pass without much trouble, but it hit an unexpected obstacle this month when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, one of the most prominent figures in the crypto industry, withdrew support for the bill. He opposed the legislation’s ban on customers earning yield on stablecoins. His surprise rebuke of the bill sparked infighting between him and a number of other crypto leaderswho supported the bill.
The discord over the bill compounds the headwinds the crypto industry has faced during a rough few months, which have seen prices fall significantly. Bitcoin is down about 31% since its all-time high in October. Ethereum And Solana are down about 40% and 50%, respectively, from their peaks last year.
This decline comes despite Trump’s more favorable policies towards the sector. In July, he signed the Genius Act, which sets a regulatory framework for stablecoins. A few months later, cryptocurrencies reached record prices, only to fall from October onwards and have yet to recover.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to vote on the bill Thursday morning, giving the crypto industry a glimmer of hope in what has been a difficult season for the sector.
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