Crypto leaders recently met with the key holdout and might have been crucial in restarting the bipartisan talks.
After the Senate markup, the bill may go to a floor vote, then the House. But the election clock is ticking.
After a prolonged stalling, there are reports of slight progress on the much-awaited crypto market structure bill, or CLARITY Act.
According to Bloomberg, lawmakers were confident that they could advance the bill out of the Senate Committee by November and get it done by year-end.
John Boozman (R-Ark.), the Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, whose panel oversees digital assets within the “commodities” category, said that the first step could be done before Thanksgiving.
“We’ll finalize our part of the bill and release a bipartisan proposal very, very soon. We’re going to get it done this year.”
Jeft Naft, spokesman for Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, also acknowledged that bipartisan talks had resumed. He added,
“Mr. Scott is encouraged that bipartisan negotiations on market structure have resumed, and he looks forward to working with his colleagues to advance meaningful legislation.”
The bipartisan discussion on the bill initially stalled after a controversial DeFi regulation proposal by select Senate Democrats was leaked. The holdout was led by Senator Reuben Gallego.
Unfortunately, the proposal drew industry backlash, forcing Republicans to pause further engagement with Democrats to advance the bill out of the Senate Committee. The said Committee extended the plan to vote the bill out by the 30th of September.
The two sides only resumed talks after crypto leaders mediated.
It remains to be seen whether they will complete it by the end of November. However, the markup allows the bill to reach the Senate floor for a vote before they return it to the House for reconciliation with the original CLARITY Act.
Meanwhile, the market appeared slightly upbeat with the progress.
According to Polymarket, the odds of the CLARITY Act being passed this year recovered from around 15% to 35% after the update.
However, some projected the exercise may stretch into early next year. This could also come with its challenges ahead of the midterm elections, which could strain the cooperation between Democrats and Republicans.
The noteworthy progress occurred despite the U.S. government being shutdown for a month.
