Analysts at Bernstein stated that the likelihood of the CLARITY Act bill passing in 2026 is decreasing. At the same time, they expect that in case of its failure, the SEC and CFTC will intensify their work on rules for the crypto industry under the Project Crypto initiative.
The Bill is Under Threat
According to Bernstein's assessment, there is almost no time left to pass the bill before the Senate's parliamentary recess begins. The analysts noted that the failure of the CLARITY Act could trigger a short-term negative market reaction but would not mean a halt to regulatory reforms.
However, Bernstein believes that in the absence of new legislation, the SEC and CFTC will accelerate the implementation of Project Crypto. Specifically, the regulators may publish clarifications regarding token classification, rules for DeFi and self-custody of assets, and introduce a so-called "innovation exemption," which would temporarily allow the issuance of certain tokens without them being recognized as securities.
Furthermore, Bernstein expects that even without the CLARITY Act, U.S. regulators will continue to support the development of tokenized real-world assets (RWA), perpetual futures on such assets, and prediction markets.
At the same time, the analysts called a possible failure of the bill a "disappointment," as it could have provided long-term regulatory certainty and encouraged banks, brokers, and exchanges to invest more actively in the digital assets sector.
Recall that earlier, Grayscale Investments appealed to U.S. Senate leadership to bring the CLARITY bill to a vote before Congress's August recess begins.
However, New York State Attorney General Letitia James stated that the CLARITY Act would limit the activities of state-level law enforcement, complicating the fight against fraud in the crypto sphere. In this regard, she called on Congress to introduce stricter rules for regulating this sector.
end-content
