BREAKING: US Senate Fails to Advance Crypto CLARITY Act, Here’s What It Means

The Senate has failed to advance the CLARITY Act. The necessary 60 votes were not reached, meaning that debate on the legislation will continue.

It is very important to understand that today’s vote wasn’t intended to pass the bill but rather to advance it further toward a final vote. This didn’t happen, which means that now the debate can continue, which will inevitably lead to further delays.

As we recently reported, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act includes fundamental provisions that seek to establish a clear divide between what the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission regulate.

Moreover, the text introduces what it calls “ancillary assets,” network tokens whose value may depend on entrepreneurial or managerial efforts, while also treating the tokens as commodities and requiring specific disclosures.

The bill also seeks to address major issues plaguing the decentralized finance field. The latest revisions seek to require CFTC registration for relevant spot digital-commodity activity taking place on centralized DeFi protocols. This may sound controversial, but it essentially targets protocols that appear decentralized yet have identifiable parties who retain meaningful control.

In addition, the companies through which most Americans actually buy and sell crypto are also being put under consideration for regulation. The CLARITY Act seeks to bring exchanges, brokers, and dealers into a defined federal registration and supervision regime.