More than 120 crypto organizations, led by the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association, sent a joint letter to the Senate Banking Committee on April 23 demanding an immediate markup of the CLARITY Act, warning that continued congressional inaction risks a dangerous regulatory deadlock that could drive investment and jobs offshore.
Summary
- A coalition of over 120 crypto organizations sent an emergency letter to the Senate Banking Committee on April 23 demanding an immediate CLARITY Act markup.
- The letter warns that delay risks pushing crypto investment, jobs, and technological development offshore and cedes the regulatory standard-setting role to other jurisdictions.
- The push comes as Senator Bernie Moreno has warned that missing the May window could shelve the bill indefinitely, and Galaxy Research puts 2026 passage odds at roughly 50-50.
More than 120 crypto organizations from across the digital asset ecosystem, including Ripple, have jointly urged the Senate Banking Committee to move forward with a markup on the CLARITY Act, in the most coordinated industry lobbying push the bill has seen since clearing the House 294 to 134 in July 2025. The letter, led by the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association, was submitted on April 23 and warns that failure to act risks pushing digital asset investment and jobs offshore while ceding America’s chance to set the global standard for crypto market regulation.
CLARITY Act Crypto Letter Delivers Clearest Industry Ultimatum Yet
The letter’s core argument is that years of bipartisan work have produced a bill that is ready to move, and that further delay is no longer a negotiating posture but a threat to the legislation’s survival. As crypto.news reported, the CLARITY Act’s April Banking Committee markup was derailed by renewed bank lobbying over stablecoin yield provisions, with the North Carolina Bankers Association urging members to call Senator Thom Tillis’s office directly to demand changes to a compromise that had already been negotiated with crypto firms. The White House Council of Economic Advisers responded by publishing a 21-page analysis concluding that banning stablecoin yield would increase bank lending by just 0.02% while imposing an $800 million welfare cost on consumers, but the pushback from banking groups nonetheless delayed the committee calendar. Anil Oncu, CEO of Bitpace, told Disruption Banking that the greatest danger is now prolonged congressional inaction: “The greatest danger now is that the current deadlock continues to push the global standard-setting role away from Washington and toward other jurisdictions.”
What the Letter Is Asking the Senate to Do
The coalition’s priorities include drawing clear lines between SEC and CFTC oversight roles, protecting non-custodial software developers from broker registration requirements, simplifying disclosure rules for digital asset issuers, and avoiding the regulatory fragmentation that would result from a patchwork of state-by-state laws filling the federal vacuum. As crypto.news has tracked, the bill faces a four-way standoff among crypto firms, banks, the SEC, and structural critics over stablecoin yield, DeFi oversight, and ethics provisions barring government officials from profiting from crypto. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has publicly projected the bill will pass by end of May, while Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong backed the latest version after reversing the company’s earlier opposition in January.
Why the May Deadline Is Now Non-Negotiable for the Industry
Senator Bernie Moreno has stated explicitly that if the bill does not reach the full Senate floor by May, digital asset legislation may not advance before the midterm election cycle closes the window. Senator Cynthia Lummis has gone further, warning publicly that this is “our last chance” and that missing the May window means waiting until at least 2030. As crypto.news documented, the bill must still clear the Senate Banking Committee, pass a full Senate floor vote requiring 60 votes, be reconciled between the Agriculture and Banking Committee versions, and then be reconciled with the House-passed text before reaching President Trump’s desk. Each of those steps is a potential delay point, and the midterm campaign calendar leaves only weeks of operational legislative time before Congress shifts its focus entirely.
The Senate Banking Committee has not yet scheduled a markup date as of publication, with Chairman Tim Scott yet to formally notice the bill for action.
