Ripple CEO Tells Congress ‘Now Is Our Moment’ as the CLARITY Act Eyes a May Senate Vote

The crypto industry has been waiting years for Congress to get its act together on regulation. Now it looks like that wait might finally be coming to an end.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is making it clear he thinks the window for the CLARITY Act is wide open, and he’s not being subtle about it. After spending time on Capitol Hill meeting with key senators, Garlinghouse delivered a message that should get every XRP holder’s attention.

And he’s not the only one pushing. Coinbase’s top policy officer just went on Fox Business and predicted a full Senate floor vote could happen as early as May.

Cointelegraph captured the moment Garlinghouse laid down the marker:

“Now is our moment to act.” That’s not corporate-speak. That’s a CEO who spent over a decade fighting the SEC and finally sees the finish line for the entire industry.

The CLARITY Act, for anyone who needs a refresher, is the massive crypto market structure bill that passed the House last July with a strong bipartisan vote of 294 to 134. It would finally draw a clear line between what the SEC regulates and what falls under the CFTC. For XRP specifically, that clarity has been a long time coming.

The bill has been stuck in the Senate over one big sticking point: whether crypto platforms should be allowed to pay yield on stablecoins. Banks hate the idea because they’re worried about deposit flight. Crypto firms argue consumers deserve access to those returns. But a compromise is now on the table that would ban purely passive yield while still allowing activity-based rewards tied to payments, transfers, or platform usage.

Disruption Banking reported on Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad’s prediction after his Fox Business appearance:

“We are hopeful that Chairman Scott is able to schedule a markup as early as this month. Then we’ll be able to get to the floor in May and get the President and Congress another big bipartisan win.”

The window before Memorial Day recess is critical. If the bill doesn’t move before Congress scatters for midterm campaign season, serious crypto legislation could be pushed all the way to 2027.

That timeline matters. A lot. If the CLARITY Act doesn’t get done before lawmakers shift into midterm mode, the entire industry could be left in regulatory limbo for another year. That’s why Garlinghouse has been personally walking the halls of Congress, meeting with senators who sit on the committees that control this bill’s fate.

Garlinghouse shared a look at just how deep those conversations are going:

Eleven years at Ripple. Most of that time spent in a regulatory war zone. And now the man who led the company through the SEC lawsuit that defined an entire era of crypto law is sitting across the table from senators, making the case that the time to act is right now.

For XRP holders, this is the kind of momentum that matters more than any single day of price action. If the CLARITY Act passes, it removes the biggest cloud that’s hung over digital assets for years. Institutional money that’s been sitting on the sidelines waiting for clear rules would have a green light. And XRP, which already has its own legal clarity after the Ripple-SEC settlement, would be positioned better than almost any other asset to benefit.

The next few weeks will tell us everything. Late April markup, May floor vote. That’s the timeline Coinbase is betting on and Ripple is pushing for. The crypto industry has never been this close to getting comprehensive legislation across the finish line.

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