SEC Chair Paul Atkins has acknowledged the agency's weaponization against crypto as the CLARITY Act awaits a Senate vote. Ripple's chief legal officer says the September 15 cloture vote will decide whether the bill advances or stalls, with prediction markets showing the odds of passage this year have slipped slightly even after a recent uptick.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins has acknowledged the SEC's weaponization against the crypto sector, a statement that lands as the CLARITY Act sits pending in the Senate. The bill would delineate regulatory oversight between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and let crypto projects raise capital before launching. Atkins' remarks suggest a shift toward regulatory clarity, which could influence whether the Act becomes law.
The September 15 deadline
The Senate is expected to hold a cloture vote on the bill, formally H.R. 3633, at approximately 2:15 PM ET on September 15, which needs at least 60 senators to advance. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty warned that failure to clear that threshold would mean the US could "miss an incredible opportunity" to build a coherent regulatory framework for digital assets. Getting to 60 votes requires Democratic support, and Congress spent August in recess, compressing the window for a deal before the vote.
What the bill would change
Formally designated H.R. 3633, the Act passed the House in July 2025 with bipartisan support and aims to resolve the long-running jurisdictional dispute between the SEC and CFTC over who regulates digital assets. It would redefine "digital commodity" under federal law and carve out exemptions for certain stablecoins, with an updated 616-page version of the text released on July 22, 2026 by Republican lawmakers.
Ripple's stake in the outcome
Ripple spent years in an enforcement battle with the SEC over whether XRP constituted an unregistered security, and both Alderoty and CEO Brad Garlinghouse have pushed for the Clarity Act's passage. They frame the bill as essential for consumer protection and for giving law enforcement better tools against fraud, arguing that without it the market stays exposed to bad actors operating in regulatory gray areas.
Market pricing on the odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 has slightly decreased over the past week, despite a recent uptick in the past 24 hours. A successful cloture vote would signal that comprehensive crypto regulation is genuinely moving forward; a failed one would leave the SEC and CFTC operating under their existing, often conflicting frameworks.
Sources: Crypto Briefing, Crypto Briefing
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