On September 15, the US Senate held a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act, the crypto market’s most anticipated bill, championed by President Donald Trump. He had hoped it would pass as early as summer 2025. The vote failed again on Tuesday, effectively stalling the bill.
Bitcoin briefly dropped below $75,000 before quickly recovering. Analysts at Santiment had already noted that the market had priced in the bill’s failure.
Why the bill stalled
The main sticking point was ethics. In 2025, Trump earned roughly $1.4 billion from crypto ventures, and Democrats pointed to this as they pushed for a provision banning officials from profiting off the crypto business — a demand that ultimately blocked the bill’s passage.
Industry reaction
Ripple and Coinbase — two of the sector’s biggest players and major donors to Republicans and Trump — voiced disappointment. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the outcome painful, saying his team had done everything possible to get the bill passed, but that Democratic “anti-crypto” politics won out over common sense.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also called the failure disappointing. Still, both executives pinned their hopes on the SEC and the CFTC, which are expected to issue their own crypto market rules. Industry participants say such rules wouldn’t replace legislation but could at least temporarily fill regulatory gaps.