Is Clarity's delay a blessing in disguise?: State of Crypto

"I will not give up because I believe to my core that this industry deserves to thrive with clear rules of the road on U.S. soil, that consumers deserve to be protected from scams and have the confidence to participate in our digital economy, and that law enforcement deserves the tools they need to hold bad actors accountable," she said.

But industry participants are more split on the bill's odds of passage. One person following the bill said it would be difficult to convince enough Democrats to vote for the bill for a variety of reasons, ranging from the likelihood that they'll flip at least one chamber of Congress in the November election to the aforementioned ethics concerns. The White House would have to agree to a substantive change to the ethics language because Democrats who would otherwise vote for the bill are unlikely to blink at this stage, the person said.

A Senate staffer similarly told CoinDesk that a "legitimate" deal would be needed to get Democratic votes for the bill.

There was talk that a vote would at least get lawmakers on the record on Clarity, as Semafor reported last month, which could shape how Fairshake and other crypto political action committees spend their funds in the final weeks of the election season. A source familiar with the matter laid the blame for the lack of a vote on Democrats, telling CoinDesk on Thursday night that a vote would have alienated the crypto industry and driven campaign dollars away from them.