Senate Votes Down Crypto Market-Structure Bill; Bitcoin and Exchange Stocks Fall
Senate Votes Down Crypto Market-Structure Bill; Bitcoin and Exchange Stocks Fall #
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday, September 15, rejected a procedural vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act. Digital asset prices fell immediately.
The cloture motion to proceed failed 49 to 50, short of the 60 votes needed. All Democratic senators voted against advancing the measure, joined by three Republicans, according to CNBC. Republicans hold 53 seats and needed at least seven Democratic crossovers; they received none.
The bill, which the House passed in July 2025 by 294 to 134 and the Senate Banking Committee advanced in May 2026, would have created the first comprehensive federal framework for digital assets. It sought to resolve a long-running jurisdictional dispute between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over which agency oversees which crypto assets.
Democratic senators, including Arizona’s Ruben Gallego, a key negotiator, cited ethics concerns. They accused Republican leaders of refusing to include guardrails on financial gains made by President Donald Trump and his family through crypto ventures. Gallego said the stalled compromise “would have bought a lot of Dem votes,” and charged that Republicans were prioritizing presidential profits over regulatory clarity. Republican sponsors said they had already made more than 120 concessions through months of negotiation.
Bitcoin dropped roughly 4% to around $76,000, with intraday data showing a low near $74,900. Ether fell more than 8% and XRP dropped approximately 10%. Coinbase (COIN) closed down more than 10%, Circle Internet Group (CRCL) fell more than 11%, and Michael Saylor’s Strategy declined around 5%. Leveraged derivatives liquidations totaled nearly $772 million across more than 120,000 traders in the 24 hours surrounding the vote, according to market data cited by FinanceFeeds.
The vote closes the 2026 window for crypto market-structure legislation. November midterm elections leave little time on the calendar, and any bill not enacted before the 119th Congress adjourns in early January 2027 must be reintroduced from scratch. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina filed a motion to reconsider, which preserves a procedural path for a future vote, though analysts were skeptical of a revival this session.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, who had urged Congress to advance the bill a day before the vote, said the agency would continue pushing for modernized crypto securities rules through its own rulemaking process, regardless of the legislative outcome.
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