CLARITY Act comes into focus 🔎

The draft text of the long-awaited crypto market structure bill is out—and it could permanently exempt Bitcoin and Ethereum from federal securities law.

Author

Stephen Graves
May 12, 2026

đź“ť What you need to know

Senate Banking Republicans have released the draft text of the crypto market structure bill ahead of Thursday’s markup—and it reins in the SEC’s oversight of crypto significantly.

A key provision in the draft bill would bar the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from classifying tokens as securities if they served as the principal asset of a U.S.-listed spot ETF as of January 1, 2026—language that encompasses Bitcoin and Ethereum.

A further provision would bar the SEC from classifying a digital asset as a security if a U.S. court issued a non-appealable judgment before enactment finding it was not—meaning that the agency would be unable to retroactively alter the legal status of either cryptocurrency.

Finally, a proposed certification process would create a certification process for tokens under which the issuers could submit evidence to the SEC that it’s not a security—with a 60

Senate Banking Panel Releases CLARITY Act Draft Ahead of Thursday Markup

The draft text contained provisions that could permanently exempt Bitcoin and Ethereum from securities law.

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