Government and Policy Sector

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed a procedural motion Saturday to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to a September vote, punting what crypto advocates hoped would be an August passage and dimming the bill's already-thin odds of becoming law this year. The move sets up a cloture vote—a procedural step to end debate and force a floor vote—for September 15, the day after the Senate returns from recess, but the bill now faces a compressed calendar: the chamber will be in session for only 14 days in September before the October election recess, then 22 days before year-end. Cynthia Lummis, the Wyoming Republican who drafted much of the bill, said Friday she was frustrated but vowed to keep fighting. The sticking points remain unresolved: Democrats are demanding stricter ethics provisions (particularly around President Trump's crypto holdings and World Liberty Financial), some Republicans worry the bill doesn't adequately restrict stablecoin yield payments that could drain bank deposits, and law enforcement provisions are still contested. The bill needs 60 votes to pass, meaning it requires roughly 10 Democratic votes—support that has been in doubt. Analysts and lobbyists now call passage a "long shot," because if the cloture vote fails in September, the bill dies for 2026, and if it passes cloture but drags into 2027, the election outcome becomes a major obstacle: House Democrats are expected to focus on Trump oversight investigations rather than crypto legislation. The crypto industry, which has spent hundreds of millions on the campaign, called the delay disappointing but said September would be the moment to "finish the job."

Broadcom stock slipped 0.3% on Monday after the EU General Court rejected its bid to block European antitrust regulators from demanding U.S.-based legal documents. The dispute stems from an ongoing investigation into Broadcom’s $69 billion acquisition of software provider VMware in 2023. European Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe, a trade group representing nearly 50 local cloud providers alongside members Microsoft and Amazon, filed a complaint in March 2026 alleging that post-merger licensing changes squeezed out European partners. When the European Commission ordered Broadcom to hand over documents created by its U.S. legal advisers, Broadcom fought the demand in court, arguing the papers were protected under American attorney-client privilege. The court ruled against the chipmaker, holding that European regulators determine what evidence they need and warning that corporate carve-outs would hobble EU antitrust enforcement. The decision exploits a structural legal rift: while U.S. law protects communications with internal corporate counsel, EU privilege applies almost exclusively to external, independent lawyers. The ruling does not establish a competition violation, but it exposes Broadcom's internal strategic documents and legal communications to European investigators.

Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service opened an antitrust case against Apple that exposes the iPhone maker to a fine of up to 4 billion rubles ($49.6 million). The Russian regulator launched the formal proceeding after Apple ignored a July deadline to pre-install state-backed messaging app Max and Russian app store RuStore on iOS devices sold in the country. Russian law has mandated the inclusion of approved domestic software on consumer electronics since September 2025 to bolster local tech companies and reduce dependence on Western platforms. Apple partially complied with an earlier regulatory warning by enabling a domestic search engine in its iOS 26.6 software update, but it simultaneously removed Max from its App Store in late June. Apple halted official sales and device shipments to Russia in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, meaning its hardware enters the country via parallel import channels where software pre-installation remains difficult to enforce. If penalized, Apple faces deeper friction in a market where its hardware persists despite an official retreat.