A significant piece of cryptocurrency legislation is moving forward in the United States Senate, with a key senator confirming an April timeline for committee action. The bill, which would classify Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP), and Solana (SOL) as digital commodities, aims to resolve long-standing regulatory uncertainty.
Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, stated at the Digital Assets and Emerging Tech Policy Summit that he expects the bill to be brought into the committee "in this next work period that starts on Monday of next week." He expressed confidence that the committee could finalize its work and pass the bill out of committee in April, despite "several issues still outstanding" that he deemed "insurmountable."
The legislation, originally titled the CLARITY Act, passed the House of Representatives in July 2025. It proposes a comprehensive framework that would largely shift primary oversight of the crypto market from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The bill employs a five-category taxonomy to classify tokens, explicitly placing BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL in the "digital commodity" category. This classification would provide clear non-security treatment for activities like mining, staking, airdrops, and wrapping.
The push for clarity has gained momentum following joint SEC and CFTC guidance issued on March 17, 2026. The bill's draft cites the Ripple lawsuit as part of its policy background, highlighting how legal disputes have informed the legislative effort. Proponents argue that clear legal labels are essential for institutional adoption by pension funds, insurers, and corporate treasuries, and that the current uncertainty has slowed spot ETF reviews for tokens beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Senator Hagerty emphasized the political urgency, noting, "We're going into the midterms... I think if we get this done in April, we can clearly get this taken care of before the midterms." Advocacy groups like Stand With Crypto suggest that votes on this legislation could impact lawmakers' chances in the 2026 midterm elections, with crypto-backed PACs like Fairshake reportedly holding a $193 million war chest to influence the outcome.
