Senate Blocks Clarity Act with 49-50 Vote Amid Bank Lobbying Pressure

The Clarity Act, a bill aimed at improving cryptocurrency regulations in the US, has faced another setback in the Senate. Despite seven Democrats pushing forward on the bill, it failed to advance with a 49-50 vote on September 15, 2026.

Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, has revised his position and now believes that the failure of the Clarity Act is unlikely to trigger weeks of tough crypto trading. He previously thought this might happen, but now sees it as an isolated event.

David Schwartz, Ripple's CTO emeritus and chief architect of the XRP Ledger, linked the Senate's September 15 failure to advance the Clarity Act to pressure from bank lobbying efforts.