Crypto industry advocacy organizations are ramping up pressure on Congress to finalize comprehensive market structure legislation before the window closes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. With the legislative calendar shrinking and lawmakers increasingly distracted by unrelated disputes, groups representing the digital asset sector say the coming weeks may represent the last realistic chance to get a bill signed into law in the near term.
The push centers on the CLARITY Act, the market structure proposal that would establish clearer jurisdictional lines between US regulators overseeing digital assets. Supporters argue that without such a framework, the industry will continue to operate under a patchwork of enforcement actions and inconsistent guidance rather than codified rules.
An Ethics Fight Threatens to Derail Progress
The renewed advocacy effort comes as the bill's momentum has been complicated by an unrelated dispute over congressional ethics rules, which has injected friction into the broader legislative process. That disagreement has already been cited as a factor slowing progress on the market structure framework in the Senate, alongside a compressed calendar that leaves little room for extended negotiation.
The window for US lawmakers to address a comprehensive crypto market structure bill before the 2026 elections is closing, and industry organizations are calling for action.
Related: Crypto Market Structure Bill Loses Steam Amid Ethics Dispute, Tight Senate Calendar
That dynamic was detailed in earlier reporting showing how the crypto market structure bill has lost steam as the ethics dispute and scheduling constraints collide with lawmakers' other legislative priorities. Industry groups are now trying to counter that momentum loss by publicly reaffirming support for the bill and urging Senate leadership to prioritize floor time for it.
Why the Timing Matters
Crypto advocates have long argued that regulatory uncertainty in the United States pushes innovation and trading activity offshore, and that a clear statutory framework would give exchanges, token issuers and institutional investors more confidence to operate domestically. With midterm campaigning set to consume legislative attention later in the year, industry representatives contend that any delay beyond the current session risks pushing the bill's fate into a new Congress, where it would likely need to restart much of the committee process.
That risk has added urgency to lobbying efforts, with groups framing the coming weeks as a narrow but critical opportunity. The debate also arrives amid broader scrutiny of lawmakers' financial conduct, including separate legislative efforts targeting the use of nonpublic information for personal trading gains, a topic that has already produced action in the House.
What Comes Next
For now, the CLARITY Act's path through the Senate remains uncertain, with its fate tied as much to unrelated institutional disputes as to the substance of digital asset policy itself. Industry groups say they will continue pressing lawmakers in the coming weeks, betting that sustained public and political pressure can still secure passage before attention shifts fully to the 2026 election cycle.
