Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says CLARITY Act could stall before midterms

Brad Garlinghouse has warned that recent Senate progress on the CLARITY Act still leaves a narrow window for the bill to move forward.

According to Brad Garlinghouse, the next two weeks will determine whether the digital asset market structure bill can advance, as delays risk pushing the issue into the political cycle ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. 

Speaking at the Consensus crypto conference, the Ripple CEO said the bill’s chances would “drop precipitously” if lawmakers fail to act within that timeframe, adding that campaign pressures could turn the legislation into “too much of a loaded issue.”

His remarks stand in contrast to his earlier timeline. At XRP Las Vegas on April 30, Garlinghouse had said he expected the CLARITY Act to reach President Donald Trump’s desk before the Memorial Day recess, after previously assigning an 80% probability of April passage during a February appearance on Fox Business. 

Data tracked by crypto.news placed market expectations lower, with Polymarket pricing 2026 passage near 46%, while Galaxy Research and TD Cowen offered similar or weaker odds.

Stablecoin deal clears a key hurdle, timeline remains tight

Garlinghouse’s comments followed a compromise on stablecoin yield announced by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks. The agreement restricts crypto platforms from offering interest-like returns on stablecoins that resemble bank deposits, while still allowing rewards tied to payments and platform activity.

As reported by crypto.news, the yield dispute had delayed the bill since January, with disagreements centred on whether third-party platforms could distribute returns on stablecoin balances. A White House Council of Economic Advisers report found that a full ban could cost consumers $800 million annually, a finding Garlinghouse cited as part of the path toward compromise.

Despite the breakthrough, industry voices have pointed to remaining uncertainty. According to Daniel Reis-Faria, the agreement reduces one barrier for investors but does not address concerns about how future rules will be applied. Reis-Faria said institutional players remain cautious because implementation details, expected from regulators within a year of passage, are still unclear.

The CLARITY Act has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and cleared a Senate Agriculture Committee markup in January, but it still requires approval from the Senate Banking Committee before a full chamber vote. Crypto.news has tracked at least five remaining steps, including committee approval, a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, and reconciliation with both the Agriculture version and the House bill.

Ripple executives, including Garlinghouse, have participated in discussions between White House officials, crypto firms, and banking groups as negotiations progressed. The bill also intersects with ongoing coordination between regulators, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission signed a memorandum of understanding in March to align oversight approaches for digital assets.

Garlinghouse acknowledged that the legislation remains imperfect but argued that regulatory clarity outweighs continued uncertainty, describing the outcome as a set of necessary compromises rather than a complete solution.