The Senate\u2019s failure to advance the Clarity Act on Tuesday was a major setback for the crypto industry\u2019s push to lock market structure rules into law, but the reaction from industry leaders was notably measured.<\/p>\n
Crypto executives said the vote does not unwind the regulatory progress already underway at the SEC and CFTC, nor is it likely to stop banks, asset managers and crypto firms from continuing to build. <\/p>\n
What it does leave unresolved is the question of durability: agency rules can change with a new administration, while legislation would have given the industry a more permanent framework.<\/p>\n
For some, that means the U.S. now risks extending the uncertainty that has pushed companies to look toward jurisdictions such as Europe, where MiCA already provides a clearer rulebook. Others argued the failed vote changes little about the longer-term shift toward regulated digital-asset markets.<\/p>\n
Here is how crypto industry executives reacted to the Clarity Act\u2019s failure in the Senate.<\/p>\n
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple\u2019s CEO<\/p>\n
This one stings. Our team gave everything we had to get the Clarity Act across the finish line. So did most of the industry. This was an opportunity bigger than Ripple or one company – we did this for the industry, for consumers and to cement the US\u2019s position as the crypto capital of the world and as a leader in the future of finance. Ultimately, consumers and U.S. competitiveness got left behind. <\/p>\n
A post mortem needs to be done on why this failed (more from me on that in the days ahead). The politics of the democrats (the anti-crypto army) was elevated over good policy. <\/p>\n
There is still reason for optimism for crypto in the United States. Now, the SEC, under Chair Atkins, and the CFTC, under Chair Selig, will continue to work hard to issue rules to fill the legislative gap and we will continue to be actively engaged in that rule making process. <\/p>\n
Ripple’s business has never been stronger \u2014 real demand across traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem. A missed vote in Washington doesn’t change our momentum, our global footprint, or our customers.<\/p>\n
Connor Howe, Co-Founder & CEO, Enso<\/p>\n
“Falling short of the 60-vote threshold doesn’t send the market back to 2022. [CFTC Chair] Selig already told CFTC staff to draft a market-structure regime under existing Commodity Exchange Act authority, and the SEC put Regulation Crypto Assets out for comment back in August. Neither move was riding on Tuesday’s vote.<\/p>\n
Durability is where the vote still matters. The next chair can rewrite an agency rule without a single vote in the Senate. Repealing a statute takes another act of Congress, a bar few chairs manage to clear. Banks and asset managers on the fence hold out for the version that outlasts whoever runs the agency next. The same gap swallows what this draft dropped: explicit Section 1960 protection for developers who never touch customer funds. Without it in statute, that protection is as easy to unwind as anything the CFTC or SEC writes on their own. After a failed cloture, the version that sticks won’t come from this Congress.”<\/p>\n
Alex Blume, Founder and CEO of Two Prime<\/p>\n
With the CLARITY Act failing to garner the 60 needed votes to advance in the Senate, any short term prospect for definitive crypto legislation is effectively gone.<\/p>\n
For those of us who have worked in the industry with honest intentions and within regulated companies, the continuation of a failure to legislate demonstrates the government\u2019s continued inability to provide clear rules for those who want them. As a consequence, we are ceding ground to other advanced economies and loose regulatory regimes to allow for ongoing developments that may not align with the interests of US businesses.<\/p>\n
FTX is a perfect microcosm of the dynamic. Some see this fraud and say crypto is fraud. But the reality is that the lack of US regulation created the need for offshore business structuring and the the conditions for fraud to emerge. Clear rules of the road would allow for legitimate businesses to instead emerge here in the strongest capital markets in the world.<\/p>\n
The challenge with crypto is its breadth and complexity. When people say crypto, they think of Fartcoin just as much as they do global stablecoins. For those outside of the industry, the fraud and get-rich-quick schemes have overshadowed the real opportunities afforded by blockchain technology.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, it appears rule making from the SEC and CFTC with fill the gaps that the CLARITY Act is not going to close. This will provide better solutions than we have today for the division of responsibility between agencies as well as treatment of stablecoins, but remains subject to the whims of the next administration.<\/p>\n
For those of us deeply involved in the industry with honest intentions, the path forward is leading by example. The best way to demonstrate the power of a blockchain and bitcoin is to innovate beyond the competition, and in so doing, making the future irrefutable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnali Biswal, CEO, Hilbert Group<\/p>\n
“Falling short of the 60-vote threshold shouldn’t trigger a steep sell-off. Prediction markets had already priced in failure. It does cost momentum, though. Major bank trade groups were lobbying against the stablecoin yield language right up to the vote, and that fight doesn’t go away just because cloture failed. Without this compromise, institutional capital keeps navigating a fragmented, enforcement-heavy market.”<\/p>\n
Michael Saylor\u2019s Strategy<\/p>\n