The CLARITY Act has traveled further than any crypto market structure bill in U.S. history. It passed the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, by a vote of 294-134. Almost a year later, it sits one step from a full Senate vote.
For XRP holders, that step carries more weight than for almost any other token. The reason comes down to how XRP is classified, who decides that, and whether the decision can survive a change in administration.
A 294-134 House Vote, Then a Senate Slowdown
After the House win, the bill moved to the Senate, where progress stalled twice. On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in a bipartisan vote, with two Democrats crossing over. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks was one of two Democrats to vote for the bill.
The real marker came weeks later. On June 1, 2026, a new version of the Senate Banking bill was published, and the CLARITY Act was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders (Calendar No. 423), making it formally eligible for full Senate floor consideration. That is the closest the bill has been to becoming law.
Three Hurdles Still Stand Between the Bill and the President’s Desk
Floor eligibility is not a passage. To become law, the bill must still be reconciled with the Senate Agriculture Committee’s version, pass a 60-vote Senate floor vote, be reconciled with the House-passed version, and be signed by the President.
The main differences between the Senate bills and the CLARITY Act relate to taxonomy, the treatment of DeFi and stablecoin yield, and concerns about the inclusion of ethics provisions. The clock matters too. Any Senate floor vote needs to happen before August 2026, when campaigning begins in earnest, and the Senate’s calendar effectively closes to controversial votes. The White House has pushed for a July 4 finish line, though officials concede that the target is tight.
Why XRP Carries More Exposure Than Bitcoin or Ether
XRP’s legal footing looks solid today, but it rests on shaky ground. The 2023 court ruling in the SEC’s case against Ripple found that XRP sold to retail buyers on public exchanges did not amount to a securities transaction. The SEC and CFTC jointly classified XRP as a digital commodity on March 17, 2026, but that classification is an interpretive release, not a statute. A future administration could reverse it.
The CLARITY Act would permanently codify the commodity classification in federal law and transfer XRP’s jurisdiction from the SEC to the CFTC, the same agency that regulates oil, gold, and wheat. Statute cannot be undone by the next chair’s pen. Our earlier coverage corroborated the same point that XRP has more direct exposure to this bill than either of the larger tokens.
What Codification Could Unlock in Dollars and Demand
The money on the table is concrete. Standard Chartered projects $4–$8 billion in XRP ETF inflows if the bill passes. The early product appetite is already visible: five U.S. spot XRP ETFs launched between November and December 2025 and have already pulled in $1.41 billion without the CLARITY Act as law.
Markets are still cautious on timing. Prediction markets have priced 2026 signing odds at around 72%, and XRP has stayed range-bound between $1.30 and $1.50 for months. Much of the “good news” may already be partly priced in.
The House delivered. A committee delivered. The Senate floor is the last contested ground, and whether the vote lands before August will likely decide XRP’s next move.
Author: Ayanfe Fakunle
See Also:
How Will the CLARITY Act May 14 Vote Impact Bitcoin, ETH and XRP? | Disruption Banking
