US Senate rejects CLARITY Act, leaving crypto market structure unresolved
The CLARITY Act, a bill intended to give US digital asset markets a federal framework, failed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday, September 15, falling 11 votes short of the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed in the 100-seat chamber. Three Republican lawmakers joined every Senate Democrat in opposing the motion, according to the source material. The bill would have divided oversight between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for assets whose value derives from network use and spot trading, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, for digital securities whose value depends on a company's managerial efforts.
Markets reacted within hours. Binance market data cited in the source showed bitcoin falling 5% after the vote, to a low of $75,390 on September 15, before recovering to $78,180 by September 18. Ether stood at $2,515, up from $2,378 the day after the vote. Shares in Coinbase and Circle each fell about 10%, according to Cointelegraph.
The failure pushes further legislative action past November's mid-term elections, in which control of both chambers is at stake. Binance said the immediate result was "a stalled bill, not necessarily a permanently dead one", noting that any renewed attempt would still have to clear Senate procedures and reconcile differences with the House-passed version. Ripple described the outcome in a statement on its website as a tremendous missed opportunity, adding that consumers and market participants still deserve predictable standards and protections, and that responsible businesses should not have to rely on years of litigation or live under the threat of one to understand how the law applies to them.
The US banking lobby has said it will keep pressing for the bill, chiefly because questions over stablecoin yields remain open. A joint statement from the Independent Community Bankers of America and the American Bankers Association urged lawmakers to "adopt targeted changes to stablecoin yield policy". Attention is expected to shift to implementation of the GENIUS Act, signed into law in 2025, which bars stablecoin issuers from offering rewards but allows third parties such as exchanges to pay yields; the community bankers' group has warned this could drain as much as $1.3 trillion from community bank deposits.
The vote adds to volatility that has weighed on crypto markets for months. The source also cites rising oil prices and the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday, September 16, to raise rates to a range of 3.75%-4%, its first increase in three years, with Chair Kevin Warsh saying inflation "is too high and has been for too long" and describing the move as "sober" and "responsible". The source material did not state the outcome of the House-passed version or a date for any renewed Senate attempt.
