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“Definition of Markets in Crypto Act” is a search label rather than the formal name of a federal bill. The measure people usually mean is H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, also called the CLARITY Act of 2025. The House passed it, but as of the most recent Congress.gov record cited here it has not become law. It remains a proposal that would still need Senate action.
Which bill the title refers to
No federal statute carries the title “Definition of Markets in Crypto Act.” The bill that matches the phrase is H.R. 3633, introduced in the House on May 29, 2025 under the short title Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 or CLARITY Act of 2025. Its bill text is published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office in the introduced version of H.R. 3633.
If you are searching for the bill’s definitions, look for the section that defines digital commodities and related terms in the text itself. Those definitions are what the bill’s jurisdictional split depends on, so they are the place to start rather than secondary summaries.
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The bill record on Congress.gov is the authoritative status source. Its key entries are:
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- May 29, 2025: H.R. 3633 introduced in the House.
- July 17, 2025: House passage by a 294–134 vote, as recorded on Congress.gov.
- September 18, 2025: Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Status label: “Passed House.”
Those entries are the latest actions in the record cited for this article. Passage by one chamber does not make a bill law, and the Senate referral means the measure has not cleared the second chamber on that record. Because bill status changes, check the H.R. 3633 bill record on Congress.gov before relying on any status claim.
What the proposal would do
The House Agriculture Committee’s report on the bill, House Report 119-168, Part 1, describes the framework. The report is the best guide to what the committee intended, but it describes the committee-reported version, which may differ from the introduced text. Provisions below are therefore described as “would” or “under the bill,” not as current law.
Dividing authority between the CFTC and SEC
As described in the committee report, the bill would assign the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jurisdiction over digital commodities. It would also clarify the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) jurisdiction over investment contracts involving digital commodities. The report addresses the secondary-market treatment of digital commodities that were initially offered as part of an investment contract, which is the point where a token sold under a securities-style offering could later trade under different rules.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDefinitions, rulemaking, and registration
The reported framework includes definitions, joint CFTC–SEC rulemaking, and registration for digital-commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. It also provides for provisional status during implementation, so a registrant would not face the full set of requirements the day the law takes effect. The timing and mechanics of that transition depend on the final enacted text, which does not yet exist.
Trading, custody, and customer protection
The report describes further requirements for trading, custody and customer assets, and Bank Secrecy Act coverage. Customer protections would apply to entities that must register with either agency. The specific obligations for each registrant category are set out in the bill text and should be checked against the version you are reading.
Self-custody in the introduced text
The introduced bill includes a personal-use self-custody provision. Under it, an individual would keep the right to maintain a hardware or software wallet for lawful personal custody and to make certain direct peer-to-peer transactions. The protection is limited to personal use. It does not cover people acting in a custodial or fiduciary capacity for others, and it does not displace specified enforcement authority. Because this language comes from the introduced text, confirm whether the reported version keeps it unchanged.
A separate SEC and CFTC interpretation
In March 2026, the SEC issued an interpretation of how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and transactions, with the CFTC joining to provide guidance on administering the Commodity Exchange Act. The SEC described the interpretation as complementing Congress’s work toward a statutory market-structure framework. It is an agency action, not the enactment of H.R. 3633, and it does not change the bill’s legislative status.
The SEC’s release, “SEC Clarifies the Application of Federal Securities Laws to Crypto Assets” (March 17, 2026), sets out a taxonomy covering digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities. It also discusses when a non-security crypto asset may become or cease to be subject to an investment contract, and addresses airdrops, protocol mining, protocol staking, and wrapping. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said: “After more than a decade of uncertainty, this interpretation will provide market participants with a clear understanding of how the Commission treats crypto assets under federal securities laws.”
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Read the release as evidence of how the SEC currently interprets existing law. It is not a statement of what the CLARITY Act would require.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare this bill with other proposals
If you are comparing H.R. 3633 with another crypto market-structure proposal, the differences that matter most are:
- How each bill defines a digital commodity, and what conditions an asset or blockchain must meet to qualify.
- How authority is split between the CFTC and SEC.
- How initial offerings are treated compared with secondary trading.
- Registration, custody, customer-asset, and market-integrity obligations.
- Any protections or exclusions for self-custody and decentralized finance.
- Legislative status and implementation timing.
Do not assume that two proposals are interchangeable or that either is law. Check each bill’s official record first.
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Scope of this explanation
This article covers U.S. federal legislation only. Nothing here describes how other countries regulate crypto assets, and the bill’s provisions should not be read as applying outside U.S. jurisdiction.
The clearest summary is this: the bill named in the title is H.R. 3633, it has passed the House and is pending in the Senate on the record cited, and its proposed rules are not yet binding law. Its most important features are the CFTC–SEC division of authority, the registration and customer-protection framework, and the personal self-custody protection in the introduced text. The March 2026 SEC interpretation is a separate agency action that works within existing law.
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