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The legislative push for the “Clarity Act,” which was advanced to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the U.S. cryptocurrency market, has collapsed in the Senate.
The U.S. Senate held a procedural vote on the 15th (local time) to bring the Clarity Act to the floor for debate, but it failed to secure the necessary votes to advance the bill, with 49 in favor and 50 against.
Although the Republican Party holds 53 seats as the majority in the Senate, advancing the bill required at least 60 votes, making cooperation from the Democratic Party essential. However, all Democratic senators cast dissenting votes.
Additionally, there were defections from Republican ranks, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Halting the Clarity Act were concerns regarding presidential conflicts of interest, specifically that President Donald Trump and his family have been reaping massive profits through cryptocurrency businesses.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Banking Committee, emphasized in a pre-vote speech, “Let’s be clear: we should not pass a crypto bill that continues to allow President Trump to rake in billions of dollars in crypto profits while working-class families across the country struggle with rising prices.”
Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) also pointed out, “We cannot pass laws for this [crypto] industry while allowing the U.S. president to personally profit.”
The Republican leadership attempted to appease Democrats by releasing an amendment that would restrict high-ranking officials, including President Trump, from issuing memecoins and other cryptocurrencies, while granting enforcement authority to state attorneys general. However, negotiations fell through as Democrats demanded stricter enforcement mechanisms that would mandate the liquidation of the president’s holdings if they reached a certain threshold.
Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) emphasized to reporters that “it’s not enough on the ethics front.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who pushed for the bill, drew a hard line on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating, “It’s now or never for the Clarity Act” and “The time for negotiations is over,” but she could not prevent it from being voted down.
Following the failure to pass the Clarity Act, the prices of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and related stocks plummeted.
According to U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase, the price of Bitcoin dropped by more than 5% around 3 p.m. Eastern Time as news of the Senate vote broke, reaching $74,911.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, plunged by about 7% at the same time, recording $2,357.
Coinbase shares closed the regular trading session down more than 10% from the previous day’s close at $172.11.
Strategy, a company holding 845,000 Bitcoins, also saw its stock price fall by more than 5% to $129.60.
While the Clarity Act is a cryptocurrency regulation bill, it is perceived as a significant boost to the development of the crypto industry because it specifies jurisdiction and other matters for cryptocurrencies that previously had ambiguous legal status.
Considering that the U.S. Congress is scheduled to go into recess ahead of the November midterm elections, the prospect of the Clarity Act being handled within the year has become unclear following this defeat.
(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.