Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is publicly urging the US Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, which he believes could be a significant regulatory step for XRP. On July 22, Garlinghouse stated that the bill is important for providing regulatory certainty and potentially enabling XRP to achieve greater institutional scale, though the bill’s passage and its ultimate impact remain uncertain.
Garlinghouse has framed the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act as a consumer protection measure. He has warned that without the bill, consumers could remain vulnerable to exploitation due to structural gaps in the current regulatory landscape, drawing parallels to issues that contributed to the FTX collapse. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty has also previously described the act as a consumer protection bill, highlighting its potential for robust anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, as well as enhanced tools for law enforcement and state attorneys general.
The bill is currently undergoing Senate negotiations. Seven Senate Democrats are reportedly seeking stronger consumer and enforcement safeguards before any floor vote. Senator Cynthia Lummis has supported the bill, presenting it as a framework for regulator accountability and improved market oversight, a strategy aimed at garnering Democratic support by focusing on enforcement infrastructure rather than industry relief.
Ripple’s global co-head of public policy, Lauren Belive, has cautioned that rejecting the bill could expose digital asset users to the same structural gaps that facilitated past failures. Garlinghouse also noted that institutional friction surrounding Ripple’s RLUSD and the broader XRP ecosystem persists due to unresolved statutory classification.
Proponents suggest that the passage of the CLARITY Act could remove ambiguity and potentially unlock access to capital pools that currently avoid assets in regulatory gray areas, allowing XRP to reach its institutional potential. However, the specific consumer and enforcement safeguards sought by Senate Democrats, and the timeline for resolving these negotiations, are currently uncertain.
The call for the CLARITY Act has garnered significant support beyond the immediate crypto industry. Institutions like Fidelity and Goldman Sachs have publicly expressed support for a defined digital asset framework. Fidelity has specifically urged Senate action, citing the urgency driven by increasing institutional participation, and Goldman Sachs’s chief executive has also voiced support for clear regulatory guidance.
A broad coalition of over 200 organizations has formally called for legislative progress, and more than 1,200 technology firms have backed a federal crypto framework. The organization Stand With Crypto is actively running a grassroots campaign to encourage legislative action.
Despite this widespread support, the bill faces ongoing negotiations in the Senate, with specific concerns regarding oversight requirements and financial consumer protections yet to be fully resolved. The outcome of these negotiations and the timeline for any potential Senate vote remain uncertain.
Why This Matters
The materials describe a narrow update: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is publicly advocating for the passage of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, stating it is the last regulatory obstacle for XRP. Whether the CLARITY Act will pass the Senate remains uncertain.
Broader Context
Source materials place the factual news in this context: The push comes as the bill sits in active Senate negotiations, with seven Senate Democrats seeking stronger consumer and enforcement safeguards before any floor vote.
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