Clarity Act Falls Short in Senate Procedural Vote, Sparks Broad Crypto Selloff

The Clarity Act, a closely watched effort to clarify US cryptocurrency regulation, failed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate after it did not reach the 60 votes needed to advance. The motion was rejected 50"49. All Democratic senators voted "no," joined by Republicans Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis. Tillis reportedly switched from "yes" to "no" to preserve the ability to bring a motion to reconsider. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons did not vote. The failed procedural vote blocks the bill from moving to full Senate consideration, including debate, amendments and a final passage vote. Foreign media reports said the odds of the proposal becoming law have fallen sharply given the current congressional calendar. Several Democrats who had participated in months of negotiations around the bill also opposed it, including Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Catherine Cortez Masto. After the vote, an industry executive was quoted describing the outcome as: "It's dead." Markets reacted quickly. The setback triggered short-term selling pressure across crypto-related stocks, exchange-traded names tied to the sector and altcoins seen as especially sensitive to regulatory expectations. Bitcoin fell sharply after the result, sliding from about $76,850 to around $75,000 in a brief move. At last check, BTC traded at $75,943, down roughly 4% over the past 24 hours. Altcoins posted larger declines. Ethereum dropped 5.35% to about $2,401, while XRP fell 9.95% on the day. Solana lost 4.92% and Hyperliquid declined 5.30%. BNB was down about 1%, pointing to a broad deterioration in risk appetite. The selloff also hit derivatives. Over the past hour, about $292.95 million in positions were liquidated, including $265.93 million in longs. Four-hour liquidations totaled $339.65 million, and the 12-hour figure reached $576.59 million. Total liquidations across the crypto market over the past 24 hours were about $769.13 million, including $568.05 million in long positions and $201.07 million in shorts. Liquidations included roughly $100.99 million in Bitcoin, $98.09 million in Ethereum, $16.07 million in XRP and $14.13 million in Solana. This is not investment advice.