US Crypto Regulation Bill Hits Senate Snag With Democrats Calling For More Review Time – New Clause Elevates XRP, SOL, And More
Senate delays crypto bill as new provision gives XRP, SOL, DOGE, and LINK equal status with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Democratic senators have reportedly asked the Senate Banking Committee leaders to delay the CLARITY Act markup.
- The request comes as lawmakers address concerns about the timing of the legislation
- Industry leaders have commented on market sentiment and the market structure bill’s potential impact
Democratic senators have reportedly asked Senate banking leaders to delay the markup of the CLARITY Act on Monday, according to journalist Eleanor Terrett.
Terrett wrote on X that Democratic senators, including Chris Van Hollen, Tina Smith, and Jack Reed, sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee, urging them to reconsider the timeline for the CLARITY Act markup.
In the letter, the senators objected to receiving the bill, only two days before the markup. They called the timeline inadequate for “voting for the most significant law considered by the committee this century.” Later, Terrett pointed to an interesting section of the Act, noting that, under it, certain crypto tokens will receive automatic regulatory parity with Bitcoin and Ethereum upon inclusion in exchange-traded products.
The provision says that any digital asset that is the underlying asset of an ETF that is listed on a national securities exchange and registered under Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act as of Jan. 1, 2026, would be deemed to be a “non‑ancillary asset.”
As a result, such tokens would not be subject to the additional issuer disclosure requirements that many other crypto projects would face under the bill. Terrett pointed out Ripple’s XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LIT), Hedera (HBAR), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Chainlink (LINK).
The total crypto market was valued at $3,13 trillion, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $92,051.12, up 0.3% over the last day. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the apex currency dropped from ‘bullish’ to ‘bearish’ territory, as chatter remained at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.
A markup is a formal meeting of a committee in which lawmakers “mark up” the text of a bill, meaning they review it line by line, discuss, and suggest changes. They can also vote on those changes and whether to move the bill to the next step, which is usually a full committee vote, followed by a full chamber vote.
Crypto Experts Weigh In
Terret noted that all three senators had previously opposed crypto-related legislation. As the legislation moves through the Senate, Mark Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, said that the bill could influence broader market sentiment.
Hougan called the CLARITY Act the “Punxsutawney Phil of this crypto winter,” meaning that the act acts as an early signal for the crypto market’s direction. He said that the failure of the bill in Congress could extend the current downturn, while the passage could lead us to a “new all-time [high].”
Separately, Ryan Rasmussen, the Head of Research at Bitwise, stated on X that Polymarket users assigned a roughly 80% probability to the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026.
The CLARITY Act, passed by the House last year, aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets.
Read also: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana Dip Amid Washington Policy Hang
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