Senate Banking Committee Advances Landmark Crypto Regulation Bill Amid Bipartisan Clash Over CLARITY Act

The Senate Banking Committee opened a historic markup session on Thursday, May 14, 2026, for H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, advancing the most ambitious federal cryptocurrency regulation effort in U.S. history toward a committee vote. The session was marked by intense partisan exchanges, procedural disputes, and Republican efforts to win over crossover Democrats, all under a tight deadline: if the bill fails to pass the committee before the Memorial Day recess, the legislative calendar resets.

Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) framed the bill as a necessary correction to years of regulatory ambiguity.

“For years, the digital frontier was trapped in a regulatory gray zone. Developers, entrepreneurs and investors were left with uncertainty. They faced confusion and enforcement actions when instead the government should have been crafting clear rules of the road.”

Scott outlined three core pillars of the legislation: consumer protection, preserving American innovation, and national security. He acknowledged the bill’s substantial expansion through negotiations, stating,

“Since June of last year, we have added 33,000 words and 219 pages to get this legislation as bipartisan as humanly possible.”

Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) launched a direct assault on the bill. She began by highlighting unrelated consumer issues—grocery prices, overdraft fees, and credit card interest rates—arguing that the committee should prioritize these concerns over cryptocurrency regulation.

“We’re spending our time working on a bill written by the crypto industry, for the crypto industry. Nothing made it into this bill that wasn’t approved by the crypto industry.”

Warren cited a CoinDesk survey indicating that cryptocurrency ranked at the bottom of voter priorities, with only 1% of respondents identifying it as their top concern. She then leveled five key criticisms against the bill:

• It would undermine securities laws protecting investors since 1929;
• It would preempt state-level protections, enabling consumer fraud;
• It risks repeating the mistakes of the 2008 financial crisis by allowing banks to accumulate risky crypto assets;
• It could deepen national security vulnerabilities;
• It fails to address alleged crypto corruption within the Trump administration.

Warren claimed,

“Since taking office last year, the president and his family have raked in at least $1.4 billion in gains from crypto deals alone.”

A procedural dispute erupted before the first vote, with Warren accusing Scott of excluding over a dozen Democratic amendments—including one from the National Sheriffs Association to close a money-laundering loophole for cartels and another from community banks to prevent deposit flight.

“You and you alone have decided which amendments are in and which amendments are out,”