The Treasury Secretary indicated that putting off the CLARITY market structure measure until 2027, after the US midterm elections, could make it far less likely to succeed.
Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury for the United States, said that passing the CLARITY crypto structure bill could make people feel better about the market even though it is still going down.
Bessent told CNBC on Friday that the delay of the CLARITY bill because of worries raised by crypto sector leaders had hurt the industry. He stated, “I think some clarity on the CLARITY bill would make the market feel better during this historically volatile sell-off, and we could move forward from there.”
If the Democrats were to take the House, which is not my best case, then they said that getting the bill passed “as soon as possible” and sent to US President Donald Trump for signature by spring, which is between late March and late June in the US, is important because the balance of power could change in the 2026 midterm elections.
Midterm election risk to crypto policy agenda
The 2026 midterm elections could mess up Trump’s plans for cryptocurrencies. “President Trump has a two-year unimpeded mandate that can be weakened greatly in the 2026 mid-term elections and reversed in the 2028 elections,” economist Ray Dalio stated in January.
Dalio warned that this possible change in politics might undo the Trump administration’s pro-crypto initiatives if they are not made into law.
The Republican Party has a small majority in the US House of Representatives, with 218 seats compared to the Democratic Party’s 214 seats, according to figures from the US House.
47% of people who trade on the prediction market Polymarket think that the 2026 midterm elections would split power between the two major political parties, with each party controlling one chamber of Congress.
As of this writing, the Polymarket odds of the Democratic Party winning both chambers of Congress and getting a majority are 37%.