The U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a key piece of crypto market structure legislation, after a contentious markup session on May 14, 2026. The bipartisan vote marks a major step forward for the crypto industry's primary legislative goal in Washington.
"This process has been one of the most informative and challenging processes I've been through as a United States senator," Chairman Tim Scott said, expressing confidence that the parties would continue to work on the bill. Scott managed a last-moment maneuver to win the bipartisan vote by admitting further amendments he had previously rejected, securing support from Democrats including Angela Alsobrooks and Ruben Gallego.
The bill's passage came after months of gridlock. The newly considered amendments included provisions for investor protections and defining decentralized finance, which won wide bipartisan support. However, amendments proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, including those on "tokenization loopholes," money laundering, and ties to Jeffrey Epstein, failed along party lines. An ethics provision aimed at preventing conflicts of interest for government officials, proposed by Senator Chris Van Hollen, also failed to pass.
The legislation now heads toward a floor vote in the Senate, where it will need to be merged with a similar bill from the Senate Agriculture Committee. With a limited legislative calendar before the summer break and midterm elections, the bill's advocates face a race against time to get it passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. "My vote today is a vote to keep working in good faith," said Senator Alsobrooks. "We still have so much work to do."
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
