US Regulators Could Move Without The CLARITY Act

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe has warned that US regulators may not wait for Congress to act on crypto market structure, cautioning that agencies could shape the digital asset landscape well before the CLARITY Act ever reaches the President's desk.

Senate Stalemate Raises Regulatory Risk

The House passed the CLARITY Act in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote, but disagreements in the Senate over ethics, rewards, DeFi, and regulatory authority have prevented the bill's quick passage. The Senate delayed a floor vote ahead of the August 2026 recess due to partisan disagreements, scheduling a procedural vote for September 15, 2026, a cloture vote that requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Though the CLARITY Act's chances are hanging by a thread, the bill missed its window to get a vote before the Senate's summer break, leaving it in a long-shot position to get approval in September. That uncertainty is precisely what concerns Belshe. Without a clear federal framework, traditional banks may remain cautious about entering the market, and the longer regulatory uncertainty persists, the greater the advantage for crypto-native firms that already operate outside the traditional banking model.

Agencies Signal They Will Act With or Without Congress

Belshe's warning aligns with signals from both major US financial regulators. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Brian Quintenz have both indicated their agencies could advance crypto rules using existing statutory authority, without waiting for new legislation to pass. One of the original goals of the CLARITY Act was to clarify the regulatory division of authority between the SEC and the CFTC, a division that is crucial to determining which agency has jurisdiction over particular assets and activities.

Belshe has told Bloomberg that proposed market-structure legislation like the CLARITY Act would give investors and companies a more stable framework, and that BitGo wants crypto rules codified into law to avoid policy swings between administrations. If regulators move unilaterally instead, those rules could shift again with the next administration, creating the very instability the industry is trying to avoid.

The failure of the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act would mean that regulation of the crypto economy continues in an ad hoc manner: unpredictable and therefore unsatisfactory for many in the crypto industry. With a September procedural vote now pencilled in, the coming weeks will determine whether Congress or the regulators get to write the next chapter of US crypto policy.

Sources:
Latham & Watkins: US Crypto Policy Tracker, Legislative Developments
CoinDesk: US Senate Opens First Stage of Crypto CLARITY Act Voting
Coin Edition: BitGo CEO Says Firms Fighting CLARITY Act May Need It Most