Crypto Slides After Senate Stalls CLARITY Act

Crypto prices tumbled Monday night after the U.S. Senate failed to move the CLARITY Act forward, setting off the steepest market selloff in weeks. Total crypto market capitalization fell to $2.70 trillion, down 2.9% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin dropped to $76,047.75 and later slipped below $75,000 for the first time since August 20. Ethereum sank to $2,406.95, off 3.5%, while XRP declined to $1.34, down 1.0%. Derivatives markets reacted swiftly. More than $300 million in crypto long positions were liquidated within 20 minutes of the vote's failure. How the vote unraveled Bipartisan talks broke down shortly before the vote. Staff for Senator Tim Scott abruptly ended last-stage negotiations over ethics provisions in Senator Thom Tillis's office. A string of "no" votes followed across both parties. Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Catherine Cortez Masto — all involved in negotiations for months — voted against advancing the measure. On the Republican side, Senators Susan Collins, Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran also voted against cloture. The cloture motion required 60 votes to move the bill to formal debate and did not reach the threshold. What markets are watching next The crypto industry now expects statements from CFTC Chairman Selig and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins indicating both agencies plan to continue pursuing crypto regulation on their own tracks, regardless of the bill's outcome. Outlook The legislation is broadly viewed as effectively dead for 2026, with little chance of revival before the midterm elections. Prediction-market odds of CLARITY passing this year fell to 5%, a record low. Some analysts cautioned the regulatory story may not be over. They cited $71,000 as a key support level for Bitcoin if selling pressure persists, and noted more crypto-related headlines are expected later this week. Pockets of strength A few tokens bucked the broader downturn. Zcash was relatively resilient, down 0.6% to $1,132.27. Official Trump token surged 16.2%, while privacy coin Firo jumped 18.4%.