The U.S. Senate's cryptocurrency regulatory bill known as the CLARITY Act faces a major hurdle ahead of a procedural vote.

On Sept. 14, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that staff for Senator Elizabeth Warren (엘리자베스 워런), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, are turning their arguments against the latest ethics compromise included in an amendment.

The issue is whether the enforcement authority granted to state attorneys general in the revision is effective. Banking Committee aides aligned with Warren believe the new provision is hard to view as an independent enforcement tool. They argued the state-level enforcement mechanism “does not provide a materially independent means of limited enforcement.”

The aides also took issue with restrictions on the issuance or sponsorship of digital assets. They said the regulatory scope could narrow because the restriction would largely apply only to assets launched after the provision takes effect. Despite significant concessions by Republicans, opposition from key Democrats is continuing, and the dispute over the bill’s ethics provisions does not appear likely to subside quickly.

Opposition is not limited to Warren’s camp. A bipartisan group of 18 state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James (레티샤 제임스), urged Congress to block passage of the bill. They believe it could weaken states’ authority to respond to cryptocurrency fraud. The move came a day before the procedural vote.

Banks have also voiced dissatisfaction with the amendment. Eight banking industry groups criticized a newly added “circuit breaker” provision intended to ease concerns that stablecoin rewards could pull deposits from community banks. That suggests views in the financial sector are divided over whether the amendment is sufficient to address the risk of deposit outflows.

Differences have also emerged within the crypto industry. Some cryptocurrency policy advocates publicly criticized the latest bill language for scaling back protections included in the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA). It signals the bill has not been shaped only in an industry-friendly direction.

Republican support is also not settled. Senator Susan Collins (수전 콜린스), a Republican from Maine, said she has not decided whether to back the CLARITY Act. Collins called it a “moving target.” She said, “The bill is more than 600 pages and new ethics provisions have been added,” and added, “I need to take a closer look at provisions such as whether it could cause declines in deposits at community banks.”

As a result, the CLARITY Act faces layered opposition even just before the procedural vote. Criticism of the ethics provisions by Democrats, concerns by states about weakened enforcement authority, warnings from banks about deposit outflows, and objections from some in the crypto industry over reduced protections are converging at once. With undecided Republican votes still remaining, the bill is moving into what is so far its most precarious phase.