US Senate delays CLARITY Act, Coinbase wins $150K SEC settlement

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is unlikely to be voted on before the August recess, marking a setback for the bill that seeks to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets. The House passed the legislation in July and the Senate has since finalized a unified text, but the compressed timeline and competing legislative priorities have pushed a full vote beyond the summer break.

Coinbase’s stock rallied on the news, rising about 10% after reports that the White House and Senate Republicans reached an agreement on the bill’s ethics language and after the exchange secured a $150,000 settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement resolves a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Coinbase, which uncovered that the SEC had lost nearly a year of former chair Gary Gensler’s text messages due to an automatic‑wipe procedure. As part of the agreement, the SEC will revise its record‑retention policies and discontinue automatic deletion of senior officials’ communications.

Industry leaders, including Ripple’s chief legal officer and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, have publicly supported the Clarity Act, citing the need for clearer consumer protections and market stability. The combination of legislative delays and the SEC settlement underscores ongoing tension between U.S. regulators and the cryptocurrency sector.