Today, April 16, from 1PM to 5PM Eastern Time, the SEC's Crypto Task Force is holding a public roundtable on the CLARITY Act at its headquarters in Washington DC. It's streaming live on SEC.gov. And the outcome of what gets discussed today will directly shape whether crypto finally gets a clear legal framework in America — or waits another two years.
The SEC roundtable is not a vote or a markup, but a public discussion about digital asset market structure featuring the same commissioners driving the SEC's entire crypto agenda. The signals that emerge from that discussion will indicate which direction regulators are leaning before Congress acts.
Here's the full picture of where this stands.
The CLARITY Act passed the House with a bipartisan 294–134 vote in July 2025. It is now targeting a Senate Banking Committee markup in the final two weeks of April. Senator Bernie Moreno has stated publicly that failure to reach the full Senate floor by May effectively kills the bill for 2026, given that only 18 working weeks remain before the midterm recess on October 5.
The bill just received the endorsement it was missing. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly backed the bill after months of opposition — removing the single largest industry obstacle that had blocked momentum twice in 2026. The CLARITY Act now has backing from Coinbase, the Treasury Secretary, the SEC Chair, and the former White House crypto czar — the first time in 2026 that no major player is blocking the bill.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said at the DC Blockchain Summit: "For over a decade, market participants have operated without clear guidance on the fundamental question — does a crypto asset implicate federal securities laws? So today, I'm pleased to announce that the SEC's persistent failure to provide clarity on this question is over." Atkins also teased a broader crypto framework featuring a startup exemption, fundraising exemption, and a safe harbor for crypto assets that no longer fall under securities law.
There's a second clock running here too. The US–Iran ceasefire expires on April 22 — six days from now. No follow-up negotiations have been scheduled after Islamabad collapsed. XRP is trading near $1.33 with the CLARITY Act markup weeks away and the ceasefire running out on April 22 — two simultaneous binary events that will define the next major move in crypto markets.
If you've ever wanted to watch regulatory history being made in real time, go to SEC.gov at 1PM ET today. The conversation happening in that room will affect your portfolio for years.