US Senate Fails to Pass Cryptocurrency Regulatory Bill CLARITY Act

TechFlow reports that on September 16, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Senate failed on Tuesday to pass a procedural motion to advance the CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act), preventing the legislation from entering full debate. The motion required at least 60 votes to pass, with 49 in favor and 50 against. The bill aims to establish the country's first federal regulatory framework for digital assets and clarify the jurisdictional boundaries between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The bill has undergone multiple rounds of negotiations over the past several months. Before the August recess, it primarily stalled over a proposed ethics provision restricting public officials and their family members from issuing or holding digital assets during their tenure. Although President Trump agreed to tighten this restriction, 18 state attorneys general explicitly opposed it on the eve of the vote, accusing the legislation of weakening states' capacity to combat cryptocurrency fraud.

With fewer than 36 working days remaining before the new Congress convenes after next year's midterm elections, the legislation is not expected to move forward again this year. This outcome leaves the issue of federal regulatory jurisdiction over the U.S. cryptocurrency industry still unresolved.