Senator Cynthia Lummis wants the crypto industry to know: don’t quit now. The Wyoming Republican, who chairs the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, declared that a functioning digital asset market structure is closer than it has ever been, urging stakeholders to stay the course as legislation inches toward the finish line.
The timing matters. Lummis announced in December 2025 that she would not seek reelection, which means her window to shepherd this legislation through Congress is shrinking.
The CLARITY Act picks up steam
The centerpiece of these efforts is the CLARITY Act, formally known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 3633). The bill already passed the House, and on May 12, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee released revised bill text. Two days later, on May 14, the legislation cleared the subcommittee with a 15-9 vote.
The guiding principles for the market structure framework were first laid out on June 24, 2025, by a group of Republican senators including Tim Scott of South Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Bill Hagerty. Those principles centered on a key question that has plagued the crypto industry for years: which digital assets are securities, and which are commodities?
