The US Senate has voted against the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act with 49 votes in favour and 50 against, failing to meet the 60-vote threshold to pass.
All Democratic senators voted against the legislation, in addition to Republicans Jerry Moran of Kansas, Missouri’s Josh Hawley, and Susan Collins of Maine
If the motion had passed, the Clarity Act would have divided federal oversight, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responsible for digital asset securities, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) overseeing digital commodities and spot exchanges.
The legislation would have established clear rules for token classification based on network decentralisation, disclosure and anti-fraud protections, and mandated registration for crypto intermediaries while preserving strict anti-money laundering requirements.
One proponent of the bill, US Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis, describes the outcome as a vote “against American leadership”, arguing that the population is not protected from “scammers and fraudsters this bill would have shut down”.
Senator Elissa Slotkin, who voted against the Act, believes that the “ethics provisions in this bill are simply too thin”, citing the legislation’s failure to address the Trump family’s over US$1.4 billion in income made from crypto, as reported by Reuters, as her main concern.
Slotkin adds that she “cannot in good conscience vote for any legislation that codified that behaviour from public officials”, and that US agencies, including the CFTC, “lack the necessary oversight and staffing to implement” the Clarity Act.
From an institutional perspective, James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, says: “The failure to advance the Clarity Act is undoubtedly a setback for the US digital asset industry, but it looks more like another delay than the end of the road.
“Clarity would provide something the industry has been seeking for years: a coherent federal market structure and much clearer regulatory boundaries.
“That uncertainty will now persist for longer, potentially slowing investment and innovation in the US.”
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