The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee approved the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act on 14 May 2026 by a 15 to 9 vote. The bill advances to the full Senate. The House companion, H.R. 3633, already passed the House.
The bill divides supervisory authority. Digital commodities fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Digital asset securities fall under the Securities and Exchange Commission. New statutory definitions cover digital commodity, permitted payment stablecoin, and mature blockchain system. The bill creates registration categories for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers, and amends Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act, Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Section 3(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The Committee's section-by-section summary details the allocation of rulemaking and enforcement authority between the two agencies.
Centralised exchanges, custodians, broker-dealers, and stablecoin issuers gain a clearer path to register with either the CFTC or the SEC. Decentralised protocols receive defined exemptions tied to the mature blockchain system test. Banks and trust companies considering custody of digital commodities should plan around revised capital and risk treatment. Token issuers with secondary-market trading should reassess whether their tokens qualify as digital commodities or remain securities.
Outstanding issues include illicit-finance controls, ethics provisions addressing public officials profiting from digital assets, and the treatment of anti-money-laundering obligations for non-custodial software developers. Senators Gallego and Alsobrooks joined committee Republicans to provide bipartisan support. Senate floor scheduling and conference negotiations with the House bill remain to be confirmed.
Licentium advises token issuers, exchanges, brokers, custodians, and stablecoin issuers on United States market structure reform, registration paths, and transitional planning, and coordinates counsel admitted before the SEC, CFTC, and federal banking regulators where needed. Contact us to scope a US market structure programme. Work we undertake includes token classification memoranda, broker-dealer registration, CFTC FCM and DCM compliance, stablecoin issuance opinions, and AML programme design.
Source: US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, Section-by-Section summary, https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/section-by-section.pdf, committee vote 14 May 2026, confirmed 15 May 2026.
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