Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said on CNBC on Monday that crypto is recovering because it is being embraced outside the United States. Europe, Japan, and Russia are passing CLARITY Act-like bills to regulate the industry, which has spurred market momentum, he said.

Lee believes when this happens in the US, it will supercharge the market, which will become the programmable software layer of money.

“Because crypto is turning money into software, a lot of things can turn into money,” he said. Once that happens, things like loyalty points and reputation could start behaving a lot like money – especially in the hands of AI agents, one of crypto’s killer use cases.

Key Crypto Bill Still In Limbo

BlackRock Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Market Development Samara Cohen echoed the sentiment, stating that the measure is an “important step toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets that puts investors first.”

She added that the bill would “help the United States shape the next era of market structure — supporting innovation while preserving the transparency, resilience and investor protections that keep the US the global leader in capital markets.”

The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 with strong bipartisan support and advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee on May 14, 2026.

However, recent negotiations have centered on an ethics and conflict-of-interest section barring the president and members of Congress from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. A merged Senate text was released on July 22, incorporating ethics provisions.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on July 23 that he doesn’t expect the bill to reach a vote before the summer recess, with ethics remaining the main sticking point.

No floor vote is currently scheduled, so the practical deadline for 2026 passage is before the Senate’s August recess, around August 7. Missing it would likely push action into

“The procedural steps … make finishing before recess extremely difficult,” said policy relations consultant Anne Kelley.

“I know many people are disappointed it won’t clear by early August. That does not mean CLARITY is done for the year.”

Opposition Wants More Concessions

“It does sound like a lot of concessions were given, but those who oppose the bill still want to extract something else,” said Lee, who remained hopeful that “anything could happen.”

In a separate post, Lee listed some of the major financial institutions supporting the CLARITY Act, which included Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Charles Schwab. “Congress needs to act and pass this bill,” he said.

Source: CryptoPotato