Senate Blocks CLARITY Act as Crypto Lobby Eyes Lame-Duck Revival
The U.S. Senate blocked debate on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, stalling an effort to establish durable oversight for the roughly $2.3 trillion cryptocurrency market. The bill would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a central role in regulating digital commodities while retaining some Securities and Exchange Commission authority over token issuance. Disputes over stablecoin rewards intensified opposition, with community banks warning that yield-like payments could pull deposits from traditional lenders.
Senators voted 49-50 on Sept. 15 against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed, short of the 60 votes required and leaving the bill without a final vote. The setback helped trigger about $571 million in bullish crypto-futures liquidations as bitcoin fell below $76,000. Industry advocates said lawmakers were considering another attempt during the post-election lame-duck session, while crypto companies increasingly looked to the SEC and CFTC for regulatory changes through administrative action.
Why it made the coverIts immediate legislative failure reshapes the U.S. crypto rulemaking timetable, outweighing lower-volume product launches and narrower corporate developments.