CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act)

The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R. 3633) is a U.S. bill to set the structure of the crypto asset market and split its oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. It is not law: the House of Representatives passed it on July 17, 2025, but on September 15, 2026 the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to it, by a vote of 49 to 50. Its official title refers to a system of regulation of the offer and sale of digital commodities by the SEC and the CFTC.

Status as of October 13, 2026, according to the official record.

• 5/29/2025: introduced in the House of Representatives.
• 7/17/2025: passed by the House, 294 to 134 (Roll no. 199).
• 9/18/2025: received in the Senate and referred to the Banking Committee.
• 5/14/2026: the Banking Committee approves a substitute text; on 6/1/2026 it reports it to the floor (Calendar No. 423).
• 9/15/2026: cloture on the motion to proceed is not invoked (49-50, Record Vote 234), and Senator Tillis enters a motion to reconsider that vote.

That is the latest action in the record (govinfo BILLSTATUS, updated September 17, 2026). To become law, both chambers would have to pass the same text and the President would have to sign it, or Congress would have to override a veto (Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution).

What the House-passed text proposes.

• SEC/CFTC split. The CFTC would have exclusive jurisdiction over transactions in "digital commodities," including cash or spot markets, on or through entities registered with it (Sec. 401). The SEC would keep offers of investment contracts involving those assets, and the Securities Act would get a new exemption allowing the issuer to sell up to $50 million in 12 months, adjusted for inflation, if the blockchain is or intends to become a "mature blockchain system" within 4 years (Sec. 202).
• What a "digital commodity" is. A digital asset intrinsically linked to a blockchain whose value derives, or is expected to derive, from its use. It excludes securities that give an interest in an issuer's revenues, profits or assets or make the holder a creditor, permitted payment stablecoins and bank deposits (Sec. 103). A tokenized share or bond would therefore fall outside the definition.
• New CFTC registrations for digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers (Secs. 404 and 406).
• Other. The SEC could not deny an exchange exemption to a platform, such as an ATS, on the basis that it trades both securities and digital commodities or payment stablecoins (Sec. 303). Title VI adds the "Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act."

The Senate Banking Committee text is different. The Banking Committee substitute rewrites the bill. Its Title I, the "Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2026," regulates "ancillary assets" under the Securities Act: network tokens whose value depends on the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of their originator (Sec. 102). Its Sec. 505 provides that a tokenized security is treated, for all regulatory purposes, as the security it represents, except as the Act itself or the SEC provides to adapt how requirements are met, and directs the SEC to complete a study within 360 days. It would take effect 360 days after enactment or, where a provision requires rulemaking, 60 days after the final rule, whichever is later (Sec. 906). Separately, the Senate has its own bills on digital commodity intermediaries, titled "Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act": S. 3755, reported by the Agriculture Committee, and S. 4064, introduced later by Senator Boozman; both are on the calendar and have not been voted on by the full Senate.

How it differs from the GENIUS Act. The GENIUS Act is law (Public Law 119-27, signed on July 18, 2025) and covers only payment stablecoins; it is not yet effective, and its expected effective date, according to the Treasury, is January 18, 2027. The CLARITY Act deals with the structure of the whole market (which asset is a security and which is a digital commodity, which regulator oversees it and which intermediaries register) and remains a bill. The House text builds on GENIUS: it excludes permitted payment stablecoins from the definition of digital commodity.

What changes today for a tokenized offering: nothing. Until it becomes law, the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and SEC rules apply: the Howey test for investment contracts, the Reg D, Reg A+ and Reg CF exemptions, and registered intermediaries such as the broker-dealer and the transfer agent. In a Commission interpretation published on March 23, 2026 together with the CFTC (Release 33-11412), the SEC already holds that the token format does not change the nature of a security. More in the guide to asset tokenization in the U.S.

Official sources: H.R. 3633 record (BILLSTATUS, govinfo); House-passed text; Senate Banking Committee text; S. 4064 record; Public Law 119-27 (GENIUS Act); Release 33-11412 (91 FR 13714).

Framework verified as of October 13, 2026. At Unknown Gravity we build the platform, the smart contracts and the integrations for tokenized securities offerings in the U.S. under the rules in force, working alongside the client's U.S. securities counsel and registered intermediaries. We are not a broker-dealer, ATS, transfer agent, funding portal, investment adviser or law firm. Talk to us.