The U.S. Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Tuesday after a 49-50 cloture vote fell short of the 60 votes required to begin consideration of the legislation.
H.R. 3633 would establish a federal market-structure framework for digital assets, dividing regulatory responsibilities between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The vote was procedural rather than final passage, leaving the bill stalled but still available for another attempt.
Four Republicans Join Opposition to Cloture
Every Democrat who participated in the vote opposed cloture, while Sen. Chris Coons did not vote. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran also voted against advancing the bill.
Sen. Thom Tillis initially supported cloture before switching his vote to no and preserving a procedural route to seek reconsideration. The final roll call recorded 49 votes in favor, 50 against and one senator absent.
The result reversed some of the bipartisan support seen when the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act by 15-9 in May. Democratic Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Ruben Gallego supported the measure at committee stage but voted against cloture on Tuesday.
Negotiations leading into the floor vote remained divided over ethics restrictions for elected officials and their families, stablecoin rewards, illicit-finance provisions and protections for non-custodial software developers. Democrats sought stronger conflict-of-interest provisions involving government officials with crypto holdings, while Republicans made revisions during negotiations but did not secure the Democratic votes needed for cloture.
Market-Structure Bill Remains Stalled
The House passed the CLARITY Act by 294-134 in July 2025, with 78 Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the legislation. The Senate version later underwent substantial negotiations before reaching the floor.
The bill would create registration and compliance frameworks for digital-asset intermediaries and give the CFTC authority over spot markets for qualifying digital commodities while preserving SEC jurisdiction over securities. The 60-vote Senate threshold had remained the central obstacle before Tuesday’s vote.
Federal regulators can continue developing crypto rules under their existing statutory authority while the legislation remains stalled. Congressional legislation would provide a separate statutory framework that future SEC and CFTC rulemaking would operate within.
Saylor Says Bitcoin Already Has Its Clarity
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor responded to the failed vote with a four-word Bitcoin-focused message: “The only clarity you need is Bitcoin.” Sen. Cynthia Lummis replied that Bitcoin was “the only clarity we’ve got.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took a different tone, writing “This one stings” after the vote and arguing that the legislation would have strengthened rules for consumers and U.S. digital-asset businesses.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Congress was no longer the industry’s only route to a clearer regulatory framework. He said the SEC and CFTC can use existing authority to continue establishing crypto rules even if bipartisan talks in Congress remain stalled.
Bitcoin Falls Below $75,000 During Vote
Crypto markets weakened as the Senate vote unfolded. Bitcoin fell below $75,000 and reached an intraday low near $74,900 before recovering, while Coinbase and Circle shares also declined during Tuesday’s session.
Bitcoin was trading near $76,400 at the latest check, with CoinGecko placing its 24-hour range between roughly $75,000 and $77,800.
The Senate can reconsider the cloture motion after Tillis changed his vote for procedural purposes. No date for another CLARITY Act vote has been scheduled.
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