49 to 50: US crypto bill fails in the Senate

*At 2.19 pm on 15 September 2026, the US Senate rejected the cloture motion on the Clarity Act. Sixty votes were required. There were forty-nine in favour, fifty against*, with one senator absent. The bill therefore did not merely fall short of the three-fifths threshold: it failed to secure even a simple majority (roll call vote No. 234, United States Senate).

It was the piece of legislation the crypto sector had been awaiting for three years: the bill meant to finally divide responsibilities between the US securities watchdog and the derivatives regulator, and settle once and for all what constitutes a security and what does not.

• Not a single Democrat voted in favour. Not one. The two independents — Angus King and Bernie Sanders — voted against.
• Four Republicans voted against: Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran, and Thom Tillis.
• One senator did not vote: Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware.
• The Republicans hold 53 seats. 53 minus 4 equals 49. The math adds up.

The Tillis case warrants an explanation, as it is procedural rather than political. He had initially voted in favour, then changed his vote to 'against'. The reason: only a senator who voted on the winning side can file a motion to reconsider. By switching to the 'no' camp, he reserved the right to reopen the matter.

His statement: 'This is not the end of the Clarity Act. We have made substantial bipartisan progress, largely thanks to the White House. This procedural motion enables us to continue working towards a positive outcome.'

What this opens up, in practical terms: the possibility of a second cloture vote within two days, according to the head of the Crypto Council for Innovation. None is scheduled at this stage.

Officially, three issues. The first overshadowed the other two: ethics rules targeting Donald Trump's crypto income, estimated at over $1.4 billion for 2025 alone.

Yet the final version of the text, published the day before the vote, represented a major concession: the president accepted most of the ethics clauses, the sunset clause causing the ban to expire in early 2029 had been removed, and an enforcement role was granted to state attorneys general. One hundred and twenty-six amendments requested by Democrats had been incorporated.

It was not enough. Elizabeth Warren, ranking Democratic member on the Banking Committee, speaking on the Senate floor: 'I believe we can pass crypto legislation that Republicans and Democrats agree on. But not this bill.' And: 'This bill will supercharge Donald Trump's unprecedented corruption.'

The two other sticking points: the liability of decentralised finance developers, whose criminal protection had been removed from the final version; and stablecoin yield, on which eight US banking associations had written the day before stating that a circuit-breaker mechanism triggering only after a run on deposits 'is no protection at all'.

Cynthia Lummis, senator for Wyoming and Republican architect of the bill, before the vote: 'Let this not be the day we handed our future to someone else because we were too afraid to finish what we started.' Afterwards: 'This afternoon, Senate Democrats proved they were never serious about consumer protection. I was sitting at the table with them, working in good faith, while they played games.'

Chuck Schumer, Democratic leader, to reporters: 'There was a bipartisan deal on the table as late as this afternoon, resolving all outstanding issues, including ethics. Republican leadership walked into the room, broke off bipartisan talks, declared it was over, and killed it.'

Angela Alsobrooks, one of only two Democrats to vote for the bill in committee in May, echoed the sentiment: Democrats were 'ready to close a deal' before Republican leadership terminated discussions.

It is impossible to settle between the two versions at this stage. They directly contradict each other, and each serves its own side.

Equities took a heavier hit than tokens. At the close on 15 September: Coinbase fell by nearly 10%, to around $172. Circle dropped by almost 13%, to around $85. Galaxy Digital shed 8%, Gemini 7%, Bullish 5%, and Robinhood 3%. Miners lost 3 to 5%.

On the token side, on the morning of 16 September: XRP fell by around 10%, to $1.30 — the hardest hit, no doubt because it was expected to be the main beneficiary of a legal classification. Ether dropped about 5%, to around $2,410. Solana shed 5%, bitcoin around 3%, standing just above $76,000 after dipping close to $75,000 during the session.

*A word of caution, however, and it comes from CoinDesk itself: the vote does not explain the entire drop. The Federal Reserve delivers its decision today*, and the market expects a quarter-point hike — the first in three years. US equity indices were also falling. Attributing the entire move to the Senate would be convenient and false.

The failure of the bill does not create a vacuum. It leaves in place what the agencies built on their own while Congress stalled.

• The SEC proposed its token issuance framework, "Regulation Crypto Assets", on 18 August — with consultation open until 20 October. And on 1 September, an overhaul allowing a blockchain to serve as an official shareholder register.
• The CFTC has launched eight regulatory initiatives since June. Its chairman, Michael Selig, announced as early as 20 August that if the bill remained blocked, the agency would act using its existing powers.
• A joint interpretation by the two agencies, dated March 2026, already classifies sixteen assets — including bitcoin, ether, XRP, Solana and Dogecoin — as digital commodities.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said as much the day before the vote: "With or without this legislation, this administration will deliver." He also regularly adds that his own rules will not be durable without a law to support them. Both statements are true at the same time, and that is precisely the problem.

*An agency rule can be undone by the next administration. A law cannot.* The sector is therefore getting what it asked for — provided power does not change hands.

The House of Representatives cancelled its sitting weeks of 21 and 28 September and left Washington on the 17th. It will not return until after the midterm elections on 3 November. The Senate enters a recess period from 5 October.

Therefore, even a second successful cloture vote this week would not find a window in the House before November. And the bill, introduced during the 119th Congress, dies with it: resuming in 2027 would require a new bill, a new committee review, and a new House vote. The 294-to-134 vote achieved in July 2025 does not carry over.

A Republican congressional staffer quoted by The Block considers the bill dead. Senator John Kennedy, on the other hand, mentions a possible return during the lame-duck session between the election and the holidays. Nobody knows.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO: "That one hurts. We need a post-mortem on this failure."

Summer Mersinger, of the Blockchain Association: "We will not rest until our industry has clarity in the United States."

Patrick Witt, White House crypto adviser, with the most interesting argument for a European reader: the failure "increases the risk that the standards to which global financial markets will comply in the future are those of Brussels or Beijing, rather than those of Washington and New York".

On the side of opponents, New York Attorney General Letitia James had led a coalition of eighteen state attorneys general against the bill, on the grounds that it restricted their ability to prosecute fraud, citing $11.4 billion in crypto losses recorded by the FBI in 2025.

*And this is perhaps the most significant point: on this issue, neither party lines nor pro-crypto stances explain everything. Four Republicans voted against it, several of them on behalf of their state's banks. A bill written for the crypto sector failed partly because of the US banking lobby.*

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