BlockBeats News, August 8th: Following an all-night voting session, U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune submitted a "motion to proceed" for the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act (a.k.a. the CLARITY Act) early Saturday morning local time, officially initiating the bill's procedural vote process in the Senate. This marks the most significant progress to date.

While this move came too late to hold a vote in the Senate before the August recess, it sets the stage for the first procedural vote almost immediately upon return in September (potentially the day after reconvening). The bill has now entered the Senate's intricate cloture process, requiring 60 votes to advance with the ultimate goal of passing the legislation. With only about three weeks of session in September, senators will then turn their focus to the mid-term elections in November.