Revised Clarity Act Text: DeFi and Credit Union Changes

Senate Republicans circulated a revised Clarity Act text on September 10, 2026 that reworks how decentralized finance projects would face CFTC registration and Bank Secrecy Act obligations and clarifies the role of credit unions in digital assets, though the draft has not resolved the ethics dispute that threatens the bill's path to a floor vote. The revised draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was distributed to senators as the chamber prepares for a first procedural test, according to CoinDesk's September 10 report. The document itself was not released publicly, so the specific clause-level edits cannot yet be compared against the preceding Senate version. For related coverage, see Senate Crypto Clarity Act Draft Bars Presidents, Officials From Sponsoring Crypto Assets. DeFi: The revised text reportedly reframes when DeFi projects trigger CFTC registration and Bank Secrecy Act requirements, targeting digital-commodity spot-market and cash transactions rather than prediction markets. Credit unions: The draft is described as clarifying credit unions' role in digital assets, without specified statutory detail on new powers. Status: A first cloture vote requiring 60 senators is reported for September 15, with ethics negotiations unresolved. What the revised Clarity Act text changes for DeFi The revised Clarity Act text reportedly addresses the threshold question of when DeFi projects must register with the CFTC and comply with Bank Secrecy Act obligations, a change CoinDesk attributed to Senator Cynthia Lummis. The same reporting says the DeFi language targets digital-commodity spot-market and cash transactions rather than prediction markets. For related coverage, see PolyNext Awards & Conference Dubai 2026: Advancing the Global Dialogue on Plastic Recycling and Circularity. The precise September clauses, definitions, exemptions, and triggers governing those obligations have not been independently confirmed against the draft or its predecessor. These details were reported with attribution to Lummis, and the exact legal tests or compliance mechanics should not be inferred from the summary alone. For related coverage, see Valinor Launches Tokenized BDC Fund on Superstate. DeFi language before and after the revision For baseline context, the House-engrossed version of the bill, H.R. 3633, is titled the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 and carries sections 309 and 409 both titled "Exclusion for decentralized finance activities," per the official GovInfo text. That engrossed language is historical baseline only and does not establish the content of the September Senate revision. Section 103 of the House text defines a "decentralized finance messaging system" as software conveying user instructions to a DeFi trading protocol, and excludes systems that give anyone other than the user control over the user's funds or transaction execution. It defines a "DeFi trading protocol" around predetermined, non-discretionary automated transactions where no other person controls the user's assets mid-transaction, excluding systems subject to specified common-control authority over functionality, operation, or consensus rules.