The U.S. Senate has failed to advance the CLARITY Act, a major cryptocurrency market structure bill that seeks to establish a federal regulatory framework for digital assets.
The procedural vote on September 15 ended 49–50, falling 11 votes short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture and move the legislation forward.
The setback puts the bill’s progress on hold as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington ahead of the November midterm elections.
The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is designed to establish clearer rules for the U.S. crypto market and define how federal regulators oversee different types of digital assets.
Among other provisions, the bill would establish a regulatory framework involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, addressing a long-running dispute over which agency should oversee different crypto activities.
The legislation has been a major priority for the U.S. crypto industry, which has argued that clearer federal rules would reduce regulatory uncertainty.
Why the vote failed
The legislation faced opposition from Democrats as well as several Republicans.
Democratic senators raised concerns about the bill’s ethics provisions, particularly rules relating to cryptocurrency interests held by President Donald Trump and other federal officials.
There were also disagreements over issues including stablecoin-related rewards, banking concerns, anti-money-laundering provisions and the resources available to regulators to enforce the proposed framework.
Four Republican senators — Jerry Moran, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and Thom Tillis — also voted against advancing the bill.
The bill is stalled, not permanently erased
The failed cloture vote prevents the Senate from advancing the bill under the current procedural motion.
However, the legislation has not simply disappeared from the legislative record. Senator Thom Tillis changed his vote to “no” so he could preserve the ability to seek reconsideration under Senate procedures.
With Congress approaching the November elections, however, the immediate path for the bill remains uncertain.The failed vote leaves U.S. crypto companies without the comprehensive federal market-structure legislation they had been seeking from Congress, at least for now.
Regulators such as the SEC and CFTC therefore remain central to how U.S. digital-asset rules develop while lawmakers determine whether and when the CLARITY Act can return for another vote.
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