Senate Blocks Crypto Regulation Bill Amid Ethics Fight

The US Senate has blocked an effort to advance landmark cryptocurrency legislation, known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The measure needed 60 votes to move forward but only secured 49 votes in a procedural motion.

Democratic opposition centered on whether the legislation contained sufficiently strong ethics safeguards, including restrictions intended to prevent President Donald Trump and other federal officials from benefiting financially from crypto ventures while serving in office.

The Republicans had sought to address those objections before Tuesday's vote. A revised version of the legislation incorporated numerous changes requested by Democratic negotiators and strengthened provisions governing the crypto activities of public officials.

Despite these revisions, the protections did not go far enough for Democrats. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said lawmakers needed to ensure that a president could not use public office to enrich himself through digital assets.