Clarity Hits a Speed Bump, Not a Roadblock — Washington's Crypto Bill Hits Snooze Until Midterms 🛑

The U.S. Senate voted 49-50 on September 15 against invoking cloture to advance the CLARITY Act, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed and pausing the long-stalled crypto market structure bill. Democrats voted as a bloc against the measure, joined by Republicans Susan Collins (R-ME), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Jerry Moran (R-KS); Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) initially voted yes before switching to no, preserving the procedural option to bring the bill back later. The vote followed more than a year of bipartisan negotiations and came the same day the House moved into recess until November ahead of the midterm elections.

Industry figures characterized the outcome as a delay rather than a defeat. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told reporters, "Very disappointing they did not get this passed yesterday or get the process started but I don't think it spells doom," adding that lawmakers could move on the CLARITY Act after the midterms and "get it done before the end of the year." Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan echoed that framing in a September 16 client memo, calling the cloture miss "a speed bump, not a roadblock" for the 2026 crypto bull run. Kevin O'Leary, speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York on Thursday, said he did not expect the bill to advance and predicted a Q1 or Q2 return, adding, "Once you tax, you've got to have policy."

Hougan's note also pointed to a price-versus-policy divergence: $BTC bottomed at $57,950 on July 1 and traded above $80,000 on September 4, even as Polymarket odds of 2026 passage fell from 39% to 18%. He now cites SEC Chair Atkins and CFTC Chair Selig as the trade, arguing agency rules could prove "more pro-crypto than the CLARITY Act itself."

The bill's chief architect, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), accused Democrats of bad faith, saying, "Senate Democrats proved they were never truly serious about protecting consumers and preserving American leadership. I sat at the table with Senate Democrats working in good faith to get this done while they played games." A Democratic staffer told Crypto In America that Tillis was willing to delay the vote to continue talks, but that a staffer for Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) ended negotiations without explanation before the vote.

Seven Democrats involved in the negotiations — Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Warner (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) — called the vote "a setback, but not the end" and said they remained "committed to working in a bipartisan fashion" on the bill. Alsobrooks said, "It's not going to die. You know why it's not going to die? Because over 70 million Americans are engaging in an industry that is unregulated, and we have a responsibility to regulate."

Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee this week advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, which would set tax rules for staking, mining, small crypto transactions, and broker requirements. O'Leary said that measure increases pressure on Congress to revisit market structure legislation, telling the Avalanche Summit audience, "We're going to tax staking. You know with certainty that policy's coming in CLARITY, and it has to." The House is scheduled to return from its midterm recess in November, when CLARITY backers plan to resume their push.