Next Thursday, January 15, 2026, is marked in red on the calendars of those who follow Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This comes as Republican Sen. Tim Scott, after months of intense negotiations and drafts kept under lock and key, has decided to use his authority to put the regulatory structure of the U.S. digital asset market to a vote, with or without support from the Democratic caucus.
This strategy, known in legislative terminology as markup Or, if you want intense discussions and revision sessions, look for something that has hitherto been out of the reach of the industry. Clear rules for running the game.
The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Transparency Act), or the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, aims to demarcate the field of competition between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) once and for all. Additionally, it aims to introduce an innovative legal concept with the term “utility tokens,” a category designed to prevent certain cryptocurrencies from being classified as securities.
South Carolina representative Scott’s determination was clear in recent communications leaked by American media outlet Punchbowl News. In it, the senator warned his colleagues: No more waiting time. “It’s important to get it out there and vote,” Scott said in an interview with Breitbart News, stressing that his team has worked “vigorously” over the past semester to provide drafts to each committee member.
His colleague, Sen. John Kennedy, acknowledged the seriousness of the challenge and said, “I understand the president intends to move forward with a vote this Thursday no matter what.”
Betting on whether to regulate virtual currencies
However, the path is not without obstacles. Republican and Democratic senators met with so-called crypto tycoon David Sachs on January 6 in a last-ditch attempt to bring their positions closer together, but it is unclear whether Scott has the votes needed to approve the current version.
Sources close to the process say that although there is agreement on most of the text, Two thorny issues remain in the negotiations. Regulation of decentralized finance (DeFi) and managing conflicts of interest within trading platforms.
Meanwhile, it’s not just the legislative clock working against us. The legislation’s push comes under stifling pressure from a potential federal government shutdown. The government’s temporary funding expires on January 30th, and progress on regulating the crypto ecosystem could be frozen indefinitely if Congress fails to reach a budget agreement.
This is a big moment for Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber. The analyst said that while there is substantial agreement on the “heart” of the law, the devil remains in the technical details of DeFi that separate Republicans and Democrats.
If the Banking Committee succeeds in moving the project forward next week, it would be a solid step for the United States to regain lost ground relative to other jurisdictions, such as Europe, which is already pursuing its own regulations with MiCA legislation.
For now, official silence has reigned over the Banking Committee’s agenda, and the Banking Committee has yet to publish its final decision. But as CriptoNoticias reported, the implicit message circulating in the Senate hallways is that patience is at an end and that we must make sure we move beyond the era of enforcement regulation that limited the industry.
