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Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, offered a detailed breakdown of what to expect from the Senate’s September 15 vote on the Clarity Act, warning that the date marks the start of a process rather than a final outcome.
What September 15 Actually Is
Senate Majority Leader John Thune scheduled the vote before the August recess. Carbone said he feels “very confident that we’re going to start the process on September fifteenth,” but was clear about what that vote does and doesn’t mean.
“That vote on September fifteenth, it’s very important for people watching, is not the final passage vote,” Carbone said. He explained it will be a procedural cloture vote around debate, not a vote on the bill itself. “We are not going to know when they kickstart that… what the ultimate fate of this bill is.”
Following that vote, Carbone said senators would need to work through an amendment process and additional votes before reaching a final floor vote. “It’s just kickstarting the process,” he said. “It is a great first step. It is a required first step.”
A Three-Week Window
Carbone said lawmakers will be in session for three weeks following September 15 before breaking ahead of the election. He outlined two possible scenarios. In a fast-moving version, he said the bill “could move very, very quickly” if outstanding issues get resolved beforehand, potentially clearing the Senate within 48 to 72 hours of the vote, passing the House the following week, and reaching the president’s desk shortly after.
Alternatively, he said the process could stretch closer to the three-week deadline. “We’re still up in the air on where this bill sits,” he said.
Ethics: The Biggest Roadblock
Asked which of the bill’s remaining challenges, ethics provisions, stablecoin yield rules, and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), poses the greatest risk, Carbone said, “To me, it’s ethics,” he said. “Ethics is the biggest challenge by far. You’re not gonna get sixty if you don’t have ethics figured out. Ethics is the linchpin here.”
He said Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego sent new ethics language to the White House before the August recess, and that language remains under review. “We have not heard any public comment from the White House,” Carbone said, adding that a previous, more robust ethics provision from the White House was rejected by Democrats early on.
Where the Other Issues Stand
Carbone said BRCA is “in a good place,” citing recent support from law enforcement groups that has helped build bipartisan momentum.
“I feel pretty good about the support we have in the Senate” on that front, he said, though he acknowledged crypto advocates still need to do more direct education with senators outside the Banking Committee who are hearing from community bankers with decades-long relationships.
The Stakes, in Carbone’s Words
Carbone framed the moment as a narrow window for the US to lead on crypto policy. “If we don’t do this now, other countries are going to continue to do this,” he said, pointing to how Europe fell behind the US during the dot-com boom. “This crypto needs to be the next frontier where the US leads from the very beginning… We can’t squander this chance.”
He added that failing to pass the bill wouldn’t leave the industry without any path forward, noting confidence in regulators Paul Atkins and Michael Selig to continue rulemaking at the SEC and CFTC. “But we need the durability of legislation,” he said. “Now is the time.”