Senate Blocks Debate on CLARITY Act, Crypto Market Structure Bill
The US Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act, a landmark crypto market structure bill, due to lack of cloture. The vote was 49-50, with three Republicans voting against the motion to proceed with H.R. 3633.
The CLARITY Act aimed to allocate digital asset regulation between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission more precisely. It also sought to classify tokens and consider XRP a digital commodity in secondary-market dealings.
However, Democrats claimed that the language on government ethics was not sufficient enough, while Republicans argued for stronger restrictions on stablecoin rewards.
The bill's failure has left the crypto market in limbo, with some institutions calling for clearer regulatory guidance. Bitcoin dropped over 5% after the vote, and shares of Coinbase and Circle saw drops of up to 10% in trading sessions.