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A panel of attorneys who previously helped defeat the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the high-profile XRP case delivered a pessimistic outlook on the prospects for the proposed Clarity Act for digital assets, speaking from a conference in Las Vegas.
According to the panel, the Clarity Act is unlikely to pass during the current Congress and could be effectively dead if political control changes after the November elections.
In a lightning round at the end of the session, the moderator asked whether the bill would pass before the U.S. midterms. Stevenson reported that all three attorneys said no, noting they have attended meetings on Capitol Hill and are not typically pessimistic.
James Murphy, described as the optimist of the group, argued that the Senate Banking Committee would need to complete markup by mid-May for the bill to have a chance, and he does not believe that timeline will be met.
John Deaton added that if the bill does not pass under the current Congress, it is effectively dead. The attorneys also suggested that if the House flips to Democratic control, Sen. Elizabeth Warren could chair the Senate Banking Committee, shifting the focus toward subpoenas and investigations rather than legislation, with impeachment politics likely to further derail crypto reform.
The panel was also asked whether the House would turn Democratic in November and whether Donald Trump and his family would face investigations related to crypto holdings. Stevenson reported that all three lawyers answered yes to both questions, describing the latter as “100% guaranteed.”
Despite the bleak legislative outlook, Stevenson emphasized the panel’s view that XRP occupies a unique regulatory position. A federal judge has already ruled that XRP itself is not a security, and the panel said that decision still stands.
Stevenson also cited recent joint guidance from the SEC and the CFTC that specifically named XRP as a commodity token, noting that the agencies chose to make that designation.
On infrastructure, Stevenson highlighted developments described as continuing without reliance on the Clarity Act, including:
The legal team, Stevenson said, framed Ripple’s support for the Clarity Act as industry-wide advocacy rather than something required for XRP itself.
The session’s overall message was that broader U.S. crypto legislation may be stalled or derailed by partisan conflict, while XRP’s legal clarity and ongoing adoption position it as an outlier. The panel indicated that near-term outcomes may depend less on Congress and more on how institutions continue to deploy XRP in real-world systems.
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