Kevin O’Leary Predicts Crypto Market Structure Bill Will Return Early Next Year

Prominent investor Kevin O’Leary says he expects the Clarity Act, a stalled crypto market structure bill, to resurface in Congress as early as the first quarter of next year. Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York, O’Leary said he wasn’t surprised the legislation failed to advance earlier this week, falling short of the 60 Senate votes needed to move forward.

Failed Vote Seen as Delay, Not Defeat

While the bill aimed to establish a comprehensive federal framework defining the roles of the SEC and CFTC in regulating digital assets, O’Leary believes its failure represents a temporary setback rather than the end of the effort. He pointed to a separate crypto tax bill that recently advanced through the House as evidence that lawmakers will eventually need to revisit broader regulatory questions.

Tax Bill Progress Raises Bigger Policy Questions

The House Ways and Means Committee recently advanced legislation aimed at establishing clear tax rules for crypto-related activities, including staking, mining, small transactions, and broker reporting requirements. According to O’Leary, this creates an inconsistent situation where Congress is moving to tax certain crypto activities without having settled how those activities should be regulated in the first place.

Pressure to Align Tax Policy With Regulation

O’Leary argued that once specific activities like staking become taxable, lawmakers will inevitably face pressure to establish clearer regulatory guidelines to match. He expects Congress to return to market structure legislation sometime in the first or second quarter following the midterm elections, regardless of which party holds control at that time.