What Could the CLARITY Act Mean for XRP’s Legal Status?

The Clarity Act would take XRP's current digital commodity status, which today rests only on a joint interpretation from the SEC and the CFTC, and write it into permanent federal law. That single change would move XRP's oversight from the SEC to the CFTC, the same agency that regulates oil, gold, and wheat, and it would remove the risk that a future administration reverses the classification with a stroke of a pen.

What Is the Clarity Act?

The bill's formal name is the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, also known as H.R. 3633. It passed the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, by a vote of 294 to 134. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its own version on May 14, 2026, in a bipartisan 15-9 vote, with all 13 Republicans joined by two Democrats, including Senator Angela Alsobrooks. On June 1, 2026, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, meaning leadership could call it for a floor vote.

The bill separates two ideas that regulators often blur together: the token itself, and the way it is sold.

Digital Commodity Versus Security

• A digital commodity is treated like a raw material, similar to gold or wheat, and falls under CFTC rules.
• An investment contract involving that same token can still be regulated separately, depending on how it was offered.
• The bill sets a maturity test for a network, including a rule that no issuer or affiliated party can hold 20% or more of a digital commodity's supply.

Why Does XRP's Status Still Depend on an Interpretation?

On March 17, 2026, the SEC and CFTC jointly classified XRP as a digital commodity. That decision followed Ripple's court win in August 2025, which found that XRP is not inherently a security when traded on secondary markets. Both outcomes matter, but neither one is a statute. An interpretive release can be withdrawn by a future set of regulators without a single vote in Congress. The Clarity Act would close that gap by codifying the classification into law.

What Has Happened in the Senate So Far?

The bill has stalled repeatedly since reaching the calendar in June.

• July 20, 2026: The White House agreed to ethics provisions barring the president, vice president, and members of Congress from issuing crypto while in office, and XRP briefly surged past $1.13.
• Early August 2026: Majority Leader John Thune delayed a cloture filing, and the Senate left for recess without a vote.
• Lawmakers return September 14, 2026, the last realistic window before Congress breaks again ahead of the November 3 midterms.

Polymarket's odds of the bill becoming law in 2026 fell from around 80% in February to roughly 14% by early August, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Where XRP Stands Today?

As of early August, XRP traded near $1, with a market capitalization around $63 billion, down about 7.7% over 30 days, per CoinMarketCap. Attorney Bill Morgan has argued XRP may already satisfy the Clarity Act's maturity threshold, a view Paradigm's Justin Slaughter says keeps the bill from being dead yet.

What Would Change if the Bill Passes?

• CFTC becomes the primary regulator for XRP, replacing reliance on SEC guidance.
• Banks and pension funds gain a permanent legal basis to hold XRP, something an interpretive release cannot offer.
• Standard Chartered projects $4 billion to $8 billion in additional XRP ETF inflows if the bill clears the Senate, per Kavout's analysis.
• Existing spot XRP ETFs, which launched between November and December 2025, have already pulled in $1.41 billion without the law in place.

What Happens if It Stalls Further?

A delay past September pushes the bill into a narrow window before midterm campaigning consumes the legislative calendar, with both chambers largely out through October. XRP ETF inflows already fell from $132 million in May to $27 million in July as investors wait on clarity.

Conclusion

The Clarity Act would convert XRP's digital commodity status from a reversible regulatory interpretation into permanent federal law and shift its oversight to the CFTC. The House has already passed it, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced it in May 2026, but a floor vote remains unscheduled as of this writing, with the Senate's return on September 14 standing as the next real opportunity.

Resources

1. Report by Disruption Banking: The CLARITY Act Cleared the House and a Senate Committee, and What XRP Holders Want to Know About the Floor Vote
2. Report by 24/7 Wall St: XRP Falls Nearly 5% as the Senate Runs Out of Time on the CLARITY Act
3. Report by crypto.news: XRP Falls 2% as CLARITY Act Vote Slips to September
4. Report by U.Today: XRP Already Meets Clarity Act Rules, According to Lawyer Bill Morgan
5. Report by Kavout: What Is the CLARITY Act and Why Does It Matter for Crypto