Senate Democrats delivered a counter-proposal regarding essential digital asset market structure rules to their GOP peers late Monday, right before a crucial procedural vote, an individual acquainted with the matter told CoinDesk.
This counteroffer arrives a day after Republican senators began circulating a fresh version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The legislation is set to undergo its initial vote on Tuesday afternoon. CoinDesk could not immediately verify the specific terms of the counteroffer outside of confirming its delivery. Politico initially broke the news that the counterproposal had been submitted.
Prior to the formal counter-offer, multiple Democrats—including those potentially inclined to support the bill—expressed misgivings concerning the modified ethics clause. The primary objection appeared to be that this revised text would still prevent state attorneys general from initiating direct lawsuits or legal enforcement against the U.S. president, alongside concerns that the Office of Government Ethics might issue guidance allowing top government figures to maintain their cryptocurrency business connections.
Industry insiders familiar with the proceedings informed CoinDesk that Democratic negotiators convened Monday afternoon to deliberate on points for the counter-proposal, which included the ethics provision.
One of the principal Republican negotiators, Senator Cynthia Lummis, stated earlier that day that Democrats kept pushing for additional concessions while asserting that the bill was fully prepared for a vote.
Patrick Witt, White House crypto adviser, stated during a Monday gathering in Washington that Republicans had already gone to significant lengths to address Democratic concerns within the Clarity Act, leaving practically nothing left to modify.
“If there are any changes, we’re talking about punctuation at this point,” Witt remarked. Regarding floor action in the Senate, however, he conceded that the final outcome rests outside his sphere of influence. “I’m not a senator, so ultimately it’s going to be a decision of the senators there.”
The crypto sector has largely urged the Senate to clear Tuesday’s procedural hurdle, which demands 60 votes. Should that vote succeed, debate on the measure can proceed, leaving a handful of subsequent votes before an approved bill can advance to the House of Representatives.
Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, stated via a release that guidelines are necessary to “protect consumers, deter fraud and illicit activity” while concurrently fostering domestic cryptocurrency innovation.
“Building a bipartisan majority to support complicated legislation requires difficult compromises, and our industry made meaningful concessions to get this framework to the floor,” she noted. “While some of the concessions in the final bill are significant, those compromises reflect the difficult work required to build consensus around major legislation.”
Conversely, other trade organizations have objected to Tuesday’s vote, at least in the absence of additional alterations to the bill. The Indian Gaming Association demanded restrictions on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority to allow prediction market operators to provide sports event contracts, while a bipartisan, multistate coalition of state attorneys general argued that the measure would unduly limit their capacity to pursue enforcement actions related to “online scams” under Securities and Exchange Commission provisions.
Meanwhile, major banking trade groups persisted in demanding modifications to stablecoin yield and reward language prior to any vote.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/15/democrats-send-counteroffer-to-republicans-over-clarity-act-provisions.
