Senate Fails to Advance Clarity Act as Crypto Rules Shift to Agencies
A 49-50 procedural vote fell short of the 60 votes needed, leaving the SEC, CFTC, Federal Reserve and OCC to shape near-term policy.
The U.S. Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 procedural vote, shifting near-term U.S. crypto policy toward federal agencies as negotiations on the market-structure bill remain stalled.
The measure needed 60 votes to proceed. Talks have been held up by ethics provisions involving President Donald Trump's crypto business, leaving Congress without movement on the legislation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced a digital-asset "innovation exemption" allowing eligible platforms to trade tokenized U.S. stocks on-chain without registering as national securities exchanges. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has also issued a no-action position for passive software providers and submitted a broader crypto-market rulemaking plan for White House review.
The Federal Reserve has proposed requiring stablecoin issuers under its supervision to back tokens fully with safe, liquid assets and hold capital against operational risks. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is working on stablecoin rules and plans to complete them by November.
