Legislation

Senate Blocks Crypto Market Bill

Is the CLARITY Act a gift to crypto insiders posing as regulation or Congress' rare chance to write the rules for a new market?

Published 1 day ago

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Above: A Zcash logo is displayed on a smartphone with a Bitcoin logo in the background. Image credit: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

The Facts

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in a procedural vote of 50-49, below the 60 votes needed to advance the cryptocurrency market structure bill for debate.
Daily Caller
The New York Times
Every Democratic caucus member opposed it, as did several Republicans. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Jerry Moran of Kansas voted no; Thom Tillis of North Carolina switched to no to allow reconsideration.
New York Post
Politico
The bill would have created a federal framework for digital assets, splitting oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), setting registration requirements and anti-money-laundering rules.
Daily Caller
CNBC
Republicans released revised text Sunday barring the president, vice president, members of Congress and federal judges from issuing or sponsoring digital coins, and letting state attorneys general enforce ethics rules against federal officials.
The New York Times
The Washington Times
Democrats said the ethics language was insufficient, citing President Donald Trump's reported $1.4 billion in crypto-related income in 2025. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said it is "a massive risk" to families, the economy and national security.
Common Dreams
Breitbart
CBS News

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The CLARITY Act is a gift to crypto insiders, sold as regulation. Its ethics provisions are so porous that a president who already pulled in $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025 keeps every dollar, while loopholes let officials own token firms outright. Self-certification hands fraudsters the keys and dumps the work on a gutted CFTC that has lost a fifth of its staff.

Chris Van Hollen on X

Columbia Law School

Narrative B

This bill hits all seven pillars Senate Democrats themselves laid out, plus 126 substantive changes they requested, a historic ethics framework and enforcement power for state attorneys general. Killing it doesn't stop corruption, it just leaves crypto governed by agency rules any future administration can erase. Congress rarely gets to write the rules for a new market from scratch.