TLDR:Coinbase and Grayscale say U.S. crypto rules can advance even if the CLARITY Act stalls in the Senate.The Sept. 15 Senate cloture vote needs 60 votes, while Republicans hold 53 seats and need outside support.The House passed the CLARITY Act 294-134 in 2025, with 78 Democrats joining Republicans to support the bill.SEC and CFTC actions already cover token classifications, fundraising exemptions and perpetual contracts.Coinbase and Grayscale say Washington’s push for clearer cryptocurrency rules no longer depends on a single piece of legislation passing Congress. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Grayscale research chief Zach Pandl argue that regulators are already building parts of a federal crypto framework. Their assessment comes before the Senate’s September 15 procedural vote on the CLARITY Act, which faces a 60-vote threshold.CLARITY Act Vote Tests Congress’ Path to Lasting Crypto RulesThe September 15 vote will determine whether senators advance debate on H.R. 3633 rather than decide its final passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed, with the vote scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET. Cloture requires 60 votes.The House approved the legislation 294-134 in July 2025, including support from 78 Democrats. However, Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. That balance means Republican senators need Democratic or independent support if the caucus remains united.Armstrong told CNBC that senators he has spoken with support the measure. However, negotiations continue over several provisions before the procedural vote. A revised 630-page Senate text released September 10 expanded provisions covering DeFi protocols, Bank Secrecy Act requirements, credit unions and decentralized finance rules.Sen. Cynthia Lummis said negotiators incorporated more than 114 provisions requested by Democrats. Even so, disagreements remain over government officials’ crypto interests, stablecoin rewards, investor safeguards, illicit finance and financial stability.Armstrong nevertheless argued that failure would not stop regulatory development as the SEC and CFTC are already preparing frameworks within their existing authority. That distinction sits at the center of the Coinbase and Grayscale argument. Congress can make the rules more permanent, while regulators can continue shaping markets without it.SEC and CFTC Build a Parallel Route to Crypto ClarityThat regulatory path is already taking shape. Pandl pointed to developments covering stablecoins, token classifications, securities issuance and cryptocurrency derivatives. For instance, the GENIUS Act became law in July 2025, establishing a federal framework for payment stablecoins.Then, in March 2026, the SEC issued an interpretation separating crypto assets into categories including digital commodities, stablecoins, digital securities and collectibles. Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP appeared among the SEC’s examples of digital commodities.The agency followed in August with proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which included tailored exemptions for some crypto-related investment contracts. One proposed exemption would permit qualifying fundraising of up to $75 million within a 12-month period.Meanwhile, the CFTC issued a perpetual-contract framework in May and permitted a Bitcoin perpetual product on a registered exchange. Those measures support Grayscale’s view that regulatory clarity is expanding even before Congress settles the broader market-structure debate.However, the CLARITY Act would go further by creating statutory boundaries between the SEC and CFTC. It would also address the federal spot-market gap for digital commodities and establish registration routes for exchanges, brokers and dealers.Federal legislation would therefore provide durability that agency interpretations cannot match as future administrations can revise regulatory policies more easily than statutes.Traditional finance is already moving alongside those changes. Nasdaq’s venture arm agreed to invest $100 million in Kraken parent Payward while expanding tokenized-equity cooperation.The Senate vote will now test whether Congress turns that momentum into legislation. Yet the Coinbase and Grayscale case is broader than one vote. Even without passage, existing SEC and CFTC actions show that U.S. crypto rules are continuing to advance.The post Coinbase, Grayscale Say Crypto Rules Will Advance With or Without CLARITY appeared first on Blockonomi.