On 22 July 2026, Senate Republicans published an updated text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633). The bill has passed the House of Representatives and cleared the Senate Banking Committee; it is eligible for full Senate floor consideration. No floor vote has been scheduled as of 31 July 2026.
The updated text merges the Senate Banking Committee's substitute with the Senate Agriculture Committee's Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act. The bill assigns regulatory oversight of digital commodities to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and of digital securities to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The characterisation of a digital asset as a commodity or security determines which agency's registration, custody, reporting, and anti-fraud requirements apply. The bill also sets conduct rules for covered intermediaries, capital and liquidity standards, and consumer protection requirements.
Crypto exchanges, digital asset brokers, custodians, digital commodity intermediaries, stablecoin issuers, and decentralised exchange operators conducting business in the United States will be required to register with the CFTC or SEC and comply with applicable conduct standards if the bill is enacted. Institutional investors and traditional financial entities entering digital asset markets will be directly affected by the bill's provisions on custody, reporting, and segregation of client assets.
The most notable addition in the July 22 text is an ethics provision prohibiting the President, Vice President, and members of Congress, together with their spouses, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets during their terms of service. Enforcement of this prohibition rests exclusively with the Attorney General; state attorneys general and private parties may not bring enforcement actions under this provision. The prohibition sunsets at noon on 20 January 2029. Senate Republican leadership and the administration have not publicly confirmed a floor vote schedule as of 31 July 2026.
Licentium monitors US federal digital asset legislation and advises clients on regulatory positioning in advance of potential enactment. Work we undertake includes US digital asset regulatory analysis, CFTC and SEC classification assessments, federal crypto compliance programme design, and cross-border regulatory strategy for exchanges, custodians, digital asset issuers, and institutional market participants.