Senate Banking Panel Rejects Epstein Amendments, Continues CLARITY Act Debate

The US Senate Banking Committee continued debating amendments to the CLARITY Act, legislation that would establish a market structure framework for digital assets in the US. The discussion also touched on digital-asset regulation and whether banking supervisory information tied to Jeffrey Epstein should be disclosed.

CoinDesk reported on May 14 that the committee approved an amendment from Senator Dave McCormick to expand the use of portfolio margining by a vote of 18-6.

An amendment from Senator Elizabeth Warren to strike provisions on bank activities related to digital assets failed 11-13.

Warren also introduced an amendment that would require federal banking regulators to disclose supervisory information related to Epstein.

"Epstein was an early backer of crypto and invested millions of dollars in Coinbase," Warren said, arguing that he understood crypto's potential to quietly facilitate illicit payments.

She added that the amendment would help reveal what bank supervisors and financial institutions knew about Epstein's activities.

Senator Cynthia Lummis objected, saying confidential supervisory information was unrelated to digital-asset market structure.

That amendment was also rejected 11-13.

Still, Senator John Kennedy said he could support the measure if the term "co-conspirators" was removed from the amendment's text.

Markets are watching the CLARITY Act amendment debate for its potential impact on the US digital-asset regulatory framework and on financial institutions' digital-asset businesses.