XRP News: Attorney Says Final CLARITY Act Draft Ends Ripple Supply Debate

Attorney Bill Morgan said the newly released final text of the CLARITY Act settles a long-running argument in crypto once and for all. He said XRP will be classified as a commodity in secondary markets regardless of how much of the supply Ripple continues to hold. 

“Deal with it Bitcoin maxis,” Morgan wrote, referencing critics who’ve long argued Ripple’s large XRP holdings should disqualify the token from commodity status.

What the Final Draft Actually Does

Senate Republicans released the finalized 635-page CLARITY Act text Sunday night ahead of Tuesday’s cloture vote, describing it as their “last, best and final” offer to Democrats. The draft reflects 126 changes requested by Democrats during negotiations.

The most significant update centers on ethics provisions backed by President Trump. Federal officials covered under the bill would be required to either divest significant digital asset holdings or place them into a qualified blind trust. 

State attorneys general would gain authority to enforce bans on officials issuing, sponsoring, or holding major stakes in digital assets, and exchanges would be barred from listing any digital asset issued in violation of those rules. Penalties for violations would run 20% of the transaction value or $500,000, whichever is greater, with the rules taking effect within 360 days of enactment.

Other changes include a new “circuit breaker” mechanism giving federal regulators, specifically the Treasury, authority to intervene on stablecoin yield if community banks experience significant deposit flight into stablecoins. 

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act’s protections were narrowed to cover only the Bank Secrecy Act and civil enforcement, removing language that previously extended protections to certain criminal cases. 

The bill also adds tighter restrictions on conflicts of interest and affiliate trading involving digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers, while clarifying that state consumer protection laws remain fully applicable and that developer protections don’t exempt anyone from derivatives law or affect prediction markets.