Two Senate committees race to define crypto’s rules of the road, triggering a double-digit rally for assets caught in the regulatory crosshairs.
The U.S. Senate scheduled a high-stakes markup for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) on January 15, accelerating a legislative push to end the jurisdictional war between the SEC and CFTC. Markets reacted instantly. XRP surged 12% to $2.37, outpacing Bitcoin ($93,716) and Ethereum ($3,239), as traders bet the bill would finally classify legacy assets as commodities.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott confirmed the date in a legislative notice circulated Friday. The move establishes a synchronized “dueling markup” with the Senate Agriculture Committee, effectively forcing a showdown on market structure before the impending government funding deadline.
The “70-80%” Argument
Proponents aim to resolve the “regulation by enforcement” era that has plagued the industry since 2022. The bill’s core mechanism splits digital assets into three buckets: digital commodities (CFTC), securities (SEC), and payment stablecoins. Supporters claim this clarity is not just administrative. It is a volatility killer.
“Clearer rules could cut market manipulation by 70% to 80%,” noted a legislative briefing cited by supporters, arguing that federal oversight would force wash-trading out of offshore venues.
The Political Math (53-47)
Passage remains a statistical gauntlet. Republicans hold a razor-thin 53-47 majority, but the CLARITY Act requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Senate leads must flip at least seven Democrats. The friction point? DeFi surveillance.
Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy, warned that Democratic negotiators have introduced “robust demands” for front-end sanctions compliance on decentralized protocols. If retained, these provisions could effectively ban unauthorized DeFi interfaces in the U.S., a poison pill for privacy advocates.
Institutional Capital Waiting
Wall Street is watching the text, not just the vote count. A January 9 report from Goldman Sachs described the legislation as a “pivotal catalyst” for unlocking pension funds currently sidelined by compliance risks. The market agrees. While Bitcoin added a modest 1% on the news, assets historically targeted by the SEC, like Solana ($139, +4%), saw outsized volume.
The committees convene at 10:00 AM ET on Jan. 15.
