Senate Clarity Act Vote Falls Short, Crypto Bill Defeated — SkimNews
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- Clarity Act fell 10 votes short of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, with the final tally at 50-49 after four Republican senators—Jerry Moran, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, and Thom Tillis—joined all Democrats in voting against it.
- President Trump, who has earned more than US$1.4-billion from his family's crypto ventures and called himself a "crypto president" on the 2024 campaign trail, had urged Congress to pass the bill despite the Republican-led defeat.
- Bitcoin dropped more than 5% as the vote appeared on track to fail—its largest single-day percentage decline since June—while shares of Coinbase and stablecoin issuer Circle fell as much as 10%.
- The crypto industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning to advance the bill, which aimed to create the first comprehensive U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets.
- Senator Tillis switched his vote from yes to no in a procedural maneuver that preserves his ability to bring the measure back up for reconsideration before Congress departs for November midterm elections.
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed disappointment in a post on social media but said the SEC and CFTC "have the tools they need to create clear rules under existing authority," though industry experts warned regulations without legislation remain vulnerable to political shifts and court challenges.
Why it matters: The failed vote leaves the $3 trillion crypto market without a lasting legal framework as Congress heads into recess ahead of midterms, handing regulatory power to the SEC and CFTC—agencies whose pro-industry rule-making will face court challenges and reversals depending on which party controls Washington after November. The crypto industry's hundreds of millions in lobbying spending delivered nothing, and Bitcoin's 5% drop signaled immediate investor reaction.
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