XRP Climbs Above $1.50 After Senate Panel Advances Digital Asset Clarity Bill
XRP crossed $1.50 and outpaced Bitcoin after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on May 15, a landmark bill that would establish the first comprehensive market structure framework for cryptocurrency in the United States. Bitcoin slipped roughly 3% in the same window, trading near $78,000.
Analysts say the bill’s committee passage removes a key regulatory uncertainty for assets like XRP that sit in an unresolved classification limbo.
What the CLARITY Act Would Change
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, also called the CLARITY Act, would assign regulatory jurisdiction over digital assets to either the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission based on a token’s decentralization status. Tokens on sufficiently decentralized networks would fall under CFTC oversight, while those with a central issuer would remain under SEC authority.
XRP (XRP) has sat at the center of that classification debate since 2020, when the SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
A committee vote to advance the bill signals that Congress is pushing toward resolution. Bitcoin (BTC) carries no such classification ambiguity, which may explain why XRP gained more sharply on the news.
CoinDesk reported on May 15 that analysts cautioned a committee vote is not final passage. The bill still needs a full Senate floor vote and House approval before it becomes law.
Several provisions remain contested, including how the bill treats stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value against a reference asset like the U.S. dollar.
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Background
The CLARITY Act emerged from years of industry complaints that the United States lacked workable rules for digital assets. The SEC pursued enforcement actions against dozens of cryptocurrency projects between 2021 and 2025 without Congress producing legislation.
A seven-hour Senate Banking Committee hearing in March 2026 marked the most substantive congressional engagement with the bill yet. The committee’s May 15 vote to advance the legislation represents the furthest the bill has moved in the legislative process.
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What Comes Next
A full Senate vote has no confirmed date.
House Financial Services Committee chair Patrick McHenry previously introduced a parallel market structure bill, and reconciling the two chambers’ approaches is expected to be the main legislative obstacle. XRP traders are watching for any floor scheduling announcement from Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Until then, the price move reflects positioning on probability, not on enacted law.
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