Sen. Lummis Says CLARITY Act Would Let All U.S. Banks Freely Buy and Hold Bitcoin

Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Bloomberg Crypto live from Capitol Hill on September 15 that the CLARITY Act would allow every U.S. bank to freely buy and hold Bitcoin and other digital assets.

She argued the move could trigger one of the biggest capital inflows in U.S. history, hours before the Senate faces a critical 60-vote cloture test on the bill.

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Banks Are Not All On Board, And the Vote Math Is Tight

Tuesday’s Senate action is a cloture motion, not final passage. Republicans hold 53 seats. At least seven Democrats must cross to reach 60.

So far, Democrats have not committed. On September 14, Senate Democrats sent a counterproposal, calling the Republican “final” ethics package insufficient.

The remarks came during a live Bloomberg Crypto interview, with Lummis seated at Capitol Hill.

A clip shared widely by Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo captured the core argument: under the CLARITY Act, banks would no longer be blocked from holding crypto on their balance sheets.

“BTC will increase dramatically,” she said, framing it as a permissioning shift, not a purchase mandate.

That framing tracks a push Lummis has been making for months. Earlier this year, U.S. senators urged new Bitcoin and crypto capital rules for banks, arguing that the Basel 1,250% risk-weight on digital assets acts as a de facto ban.

The CLARITY Act’s Section 401 would change that. It would list buying and selling digital assets as a permitted activity for national banks, covering everything from custody to principal holdings.

The banking lobby is also pushing back. Major banking groups and New York lawyers formally opposed the CLARITY Act ahead of today’s vote.

Their chief concern is Section 10404, which they say risks draining community bank deposits into stablecoin products.

Seventeen state attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, have also warned the bill weakens state fraud enforcement tools.

Lummis has not backed down. She fired back at JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon after Dimon vowed to fight the bill’s stablecoin provisions.

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Regulatory Rulemaking Remains the Fallback if Cloture Fails

A failed vote does not mean a regulatory vacuum. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said the crypto agenda will proceed even if the CLARITY Act stalls, through Project Crypto, Regulation Crypto Assets, and updated SEC guidance.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig has also indicated market-structure rules are ready if Congress stalls.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said crypto gets regulatory clarity even if the CLARITY Act fails the Senate test.

But analysts warn the market may not wait. A CLARITY Act failure could spark a fresh Bitcoin and crypto selloff before a Q4 rebound, according to Bernstein.

That binary risk is compounded by the Fed as Bitcoin, ETH, and XRP rallies are already under threat as September 16 Fed rate hike odds surge to 86%.

The investor question Lummis is putting on the table is, if U.S. banks can legally warehouse Bitcoin under the CLARITY Act, who becomes the next marginal buyer, ETF authorized participants, strategy-style corporate treasuries, or the $20 trillion U.S. insured deposit system? Today’s 60-vote roll call is the first answer.

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