Galaxy Digital chief executive Mike Novogratz told CoinMarketCap that he expects the US CLARITY Act to pass through Congress in May and be signed into law in June, according to a post from CoinMarketCap on April 27. The forecast pins a calendar to a bill that has slipped repeatedly since its February reintroduction.
The timing is tight by any measure. Senator Thom Tillis confirmed earlier this month that the Senate Banking Committee markup had been pushed to mid-May, as we covered in the original markup-slip story. For Novogratz's call to land, the committee would need to clear markup, the Senate would need to vote, the House would need to reconcile its companion text, and the bill would need to reach President Trump's desk inside roughly six weeks.
What Novogratz Is Actually Forecasting
The CLARITY Act, the Clarity for Crypto-Asset Markets Act of 2026, is the bill that splits jurisdiction over crypto assets between the SEC and CFTC. It defines when a digital asset trades as a commodity versus a security, and it gives the CFTC a clear mandate over spot markets for assets classified as commodities.
Novogratz is not the first industry executive to handicap the bill, but he is one of the most exposed to its outcome. Galaxy operates a regulated trading desk, custody business, and asset management arm that all sit on the seam the legislation is meant to close. A signed CLARITY Act gives Galaxy and its peers a federal rulebook for spot trading that they currently piece together from state money transmitter licenses and SEC enforcement letters.
His prediction is also notable for what it does not say. He did not flag specific amendments, carve-outs, or the DeFi treatment that has held up earlier markup attempts. The forecast is calendar, not content.
Why The Window Is So Narrow
Crypto market structure bills have a long history of stalling between committee and floor. FIT21, the predecessor framework that passed the House in May 2024, never received a Senate floor vote and lapsed at the end of the 118th Congress. The CLARITY Act picks up most of FIT21's text but adds clearer SEC and CFTC handoffs and a stablecoin provision that some lawmakers want stripped out and folded into a separate bill.
Two recent developments compress the window further. The first is the Delaware Senate's 20-1 passage of the Payment Stablecoins Act, which moves state-level stablecoin licensing forward and reduces pressure on Congress to handle stablecoins inside CLARITY. The second is the 37-state coalition that joined New York in the CFTC prediction markets fight, which gives Senate negotiators a live test case for how aggressively the CFTC should be allowed to preempt state authority. Both threads need to settle before the floor vote, and both are moving.
If Novogratz is right, the Senate vote happens before Memorial Day recess and the House moves a conformed text in early June. The president's desk in late June is realistic only if House and Senate texts converge without conference.
What A June Signing Would Change
For exchanges, a signed CLARITY Act ends the years-long ambiguity over which token listings sit under SEC jurisdiction. Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and the offshore venues seeking US licenses would gain a defined path to register spot commodity assets with the CFTC instead of negotiating consent decrees with the SEC.
For card issuers and stablecoin operators, the implications are quieter but real. A stable federal definition of what counts as a payment stablecoin reduces the legal risk of building stablecoin spending products on top of USDC, USDT, or new bank-issued tokens. Companies like Western Union, which recently announced a Solana stablecoin and card launch, are betting on exactly this kind of clearer rulebook.
For the broader market, the calendar matters more than the content. Bitcoin sits at $77,891 as of April 27, down 0.3% on the day, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index reading 44 (Neutral). A confirmed June signing would likely pull forward institutional allocations that are currently waiting on legal certainty. A second slip pushes the bill into the August recess and reopens the question of whether it survives a fall session crowded with appropriations fights.
Overview
Novogratz's call is a forecast, not a guarantee. He has the seat to know the room better than most, but Senate calendars rarely cooperate with executive predictions. The mid-May markup is the first real test. If that holds, the rest of his timeline becomes plausible. If it slips again, the June signing is off the table and the bill goes back to a queue that has eaten every prior attempt.
