CLARITY Act Nears Senate Floor Vote As Lawmakers & Industry Set To Meet In Chicago

The CLARITY Act may soon be heading toward a full U.S. Senate floor vote. These expectations come as Lawmakers, regulators, investors and crypto industry leaders are set to convene in Chicago for talks on the future of U.S. crypto regulation. Moreover, the stakes are high a key personality behind the bill’s approval in the House is slated to join the discussion.

Smith Says CLARITY Act Is Heading Towards Senate Floor Vote

Before the event, Solana Institute President Kristin Smith encouraged lawmakers to maintain certain protections that were part of the legislation, dubbed the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA). She seems these rules extremely important to the developer community. Further, Smith noted that the “CLARITY Act may soon head to the Senate floor.”

She further argued that the BRCA “must stay in the bill, fully and intact.”Smith said on X. The provision aims to define that, under U.S. law, blockchain developers, node operators, and validators who are not custodial should not be deemed to be money transmitters.

“The BRCA draws a bright line: if you write open-source software, run a node, or validate transactions — and never take custody or control of anyone’s money — you are not a money transmitter,” Smith wrote. The measure brings federal law in line with guidance issued by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) last year, she added.

5/ The conversation on this and a lot more continues tomorrow in Chicago at @SolanaInstitute's Solana Summit: Washington x Wall Street – policymakers, regulators, investors, and builders in one room.

Join us: https://t.co/j6Klu91RNY

— Kristin Smith (@KristinSmith) June 15, 2026

Smith says the protections extend beyond the crypto industry. “The industry’s leading founders, CEOs, and investors — rivals for talent, capital, and market share — signed a single letter to Senate leaders with one request: do not weaken these protections,” she said. She seems it as a prerequisite for getting the CLARITY Act passed.

However, BRCA remains one of the most pressing issues between lawmakers and the crypto industry. In a recent White House meeting, law enforcement officials discussed the BRCA provisions. Also, they’re looking to make changes to the ethics provision. Due to such pending tasks, analysts have suggested that a July 4 approval for the CLARITY Act may not be possible.

Policymakers To Discuss The Crypto Market Structure Bill

With the Senate version of the CLARITY Act coming into focus, it is anticipated that the summit in Chicago will involve policymakers and industry players. For context, Rep. Dusty Johnson advanced the original Agriculture Committee text last year in a bipartisan 47-6 vote.

Now, journalist Eleanor Terrett said that she is looking forward to hearing “how House Ag Committee members are thinking about the Senate’s version of the Clarity Act”

Johnson is the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development. Thus, he is expected offer perspective on how the House lawmakers are thinking about possible changes to the CLARITY Act that the Senate is considering.

Smith also pointed out the U.S.’s slide in competitiveness, as it has gone down from 38% in 2015 to about 19% now of the number of crypto developers from the U.S. developing open source cryptocurrencies. In a call-to-action, she wrote, “Get this right, and the next era of finance is built here, under American rules. Get it wrong, and we hand it to Singapore and Abu Dhabi.”