US Senate Blocks CLARITY Act, Stalling Federal Crypto Rulebook

Ahead of the vote, Republicans had released a revised version incorporating 126 changes requested by Democrats. According to BitKE, Trump agreed to tougher conflict-of-interest provisions, including requiring federal elected officials, judges and their spouses to divest significant holdings in digital-asset issuers or place them in blind trusts, barring top officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office, and giving state attorneys general a role in enforcement alongside the Justice Department.

Lummis said Democrats continued to press for more, arguing the outcome would benefit China and foreign competitors. Democrats had sought stronger provisions on consumer protection, money laundering, banking, and potential conflicts involving Trump's crypto holdings.

The defeat leaves unresolved key questions over whether particular digital assets fall under SEC or CFTC oversight. Crypto-related stocks and bitcoin fell after the vote, with Coinbase and Circle among the affected companies, BitKE reported. CoinDesk reported that XRP dropped about 10% and bitcoin slid toward $76,000, while Decrypt noted the market decline stopped short of panic.

Shares of Coinbase, Circle and Galaxy dropped after the U.S. Senate failed to move forward a crypto market structure bill.