White House Targets July 4 for Clarity Act Passage

The White House is targeting July 4, 2026 for House passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, according to Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets. Speaking at Consensus Miami, Witt said the administration’s timeline calls for Senate Banking Committee markup in May, a Senate floor vote in June, and House passage before the July 4 deadline. “There’s not a lot of slack left in the rope right now. But it is an achievable timeline,” Witt said.

Stablecoin Compromise Breakthrough

The path to passage cleared significantly after Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) reached a compromise on stablecoin yield provisions on Friday. The agreement prohibits bank-deposit-equivalent yield while allowing activity-based rewards tied to spending. Witt framed the compromise as balanced: “Crypto is unhappy, banks are unhappy, but they’re both about equally unhappy. And so we know that we got the right compromise.”

Mixed Industry and Lawmaker Assessments

Industry leaders and lawmakers offered varying assessments of the timeline’s feasibility. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, stated that “I’m very confident we’re going to see the Clarity Act pass this summer at the latest,” adding, “I very much encourage the banking trade to not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott described the bill as being in the “red zone,” while Senator Kirsten Gillibrand offered a more cautious timeline, saying it could be completed by the first week of August “if we’re lucky.”

U.S. Leadership and Legislative Context

Witt framed the legislation as essential for maintaining U.S. leadership in digital assets, warning that “If we’re not setting the standard, if we’re not writing the rules, then we are going to be a rule follower, and we’re going to be following somebody else’s rulebook on this. And God forbid it’s China that’s ultimately writing those rules.”

The Clarity Act’s progress through Congress has been slow, with previous attempts foundering as crypto and banking interests failed to reach compromise on key issues. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse warned that the next two weeks are critical, noting that if Senate markup doesn’t happen soon, the likelihood of the bill passing “is going to drop precipitously” as midterm politics intensify.