The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) is a U.S. crypto market structure bill intended to establish clearer federal rules for digital assets and settle longstanding jurisdictional conflicts between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Having passed the House in 2025, the legislation is now progressing in the Senate, where the Banking Committee released a new 309-page draft on May 12, 2026, with a markup scheduled for Thursday, May 14.
The bill would formally divide regulatory oversight between securities and commodity regulators, addressing years of legal uncertainty that have shaped the U.S. crypto market. Under the framework, the SEC would retain oversight of digital asset securities, while the CFTC’s authority would be expanded to cover digital commodity spot markets.
Crypto trading platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken would be required to register with the CFTC as digital commodity exchanges. These platforms would need to comply with new obligations related to customer asset protection, market surveillance, reporting, and anti-money-laundering controls. The registration requirement is designed to bring digital commodity trading venues under a clearer and more comprehensive federal oversight regime.
The legislation provides a statutory definition for digital commodities. Under §103 of the bill, a digital commodity is a digital asset whose value is described as being “intrinsically linked” to the use of the blockchain to which it relates. To qualify for treatment under the CFTC framework, no insider group may control more than 20% of the voting power or hold more than 20% of the token supply.
Beyond market structure, the CLARITY Act includes a provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing or testing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This clause would restrict the central bank’s role in developing or piloting a U.S. CBDC, even as broader digital asset regulation advances.
Despite its progress, the bill faces further legislative hurdles. The CLARITY Act must clear a 60-vote threshold in the Senate and then return to the House before it can become law. The outcome of the upcoming Senate Banking Committee markup on May 14 will be a key step in determining whether this comprehensive approach to U.S. crypto market oversight ultimately succeeds.
