What just happened? It’s not been a good 24 hours for the cryptocurrency industry. Yesterday saw the US Senate fail to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, dealing a massive blow to companies hoping for clearer rules governing digital assets. Crypto prices have also taken a beating, with XRP, Ether, Solana, and Bitcoin all falling.
The legislation failed to secure the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle. As CoinDesk reports, the result follows years of campaigning and hundreds of millions of dollars spent trying to get a regulatory framework through Congress.
The Clarity Act would establish how different cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects are regulated, dividing responsibilities between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The latter would gain new authority over crypto spot markets, where digital assets are bought and sold directly.
But more than 600 pages of compromise weren’t enough to settle disagreements over ethics provisions restricting senior government officials’ crypto business interests.
Democrats have demanded stronger safeguards covering President Donald Trump and his family’s involvement in the industry. Even Democrats open to cryptocurrency regulation wanted firmer limits on the president’s ability to profit while in office.
There’s certainly plenty of money involved. Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures in 2025. Companies managing his interests in World Liberty Financial and the Trump memecoin project held at least $160 million in Bitcoin and Ether, plus up to $6 million in other tokens, at the end of that year, according to a review of his disclosures.
Republicans released revised legislation on Sunday to address objections from Democrats and the banking industry. That didn’t win over enough opponents, writes Reuters. With Congress preparing to leave Washington ahead of November’s midterm elections, the bill’s prospects this year are looking increasingly bleak.
During Wednesday morning trading in Asia, XRP was down nearly 10% to $1.30. Ether fell almost 5% to around $2,410, while Solana dropped 5% to just above $97. Dogecoin also lost nearly 5%, and Bitcoin slipped almost 3% to a little under $76,000.
Attention now turns to the SEC and CFTC, which can continue developing rules under their existing powers. But regulations remain vulnerable to court challenges and changes in political leadership.