Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan argues that the US Senate's failure to advance the CLARITY Act has left the crypto market better off, not worse. In a memo published on Wednesday, Sept 30, Hougan framed the legislative collapse as a favorable exchange for the digital asset industry.

According to the report, Bitcoin (BTC) gained approximately 8% after the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate, a market outcome cited alongside Hougan's assessment that the setback did not damage the sector.

The CLARITY Act and Its Stalled Progress

The CLARITY Act is a United States market-structure bill intended to give digital assets a clearer regulatory framework, most notably by drawing sharper jurisdictional lines between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). That jurisdictional boundary is central to how US crypto rules work in practice: whether a digital asset falls under securities oversight or commodity oversight determines which federal rules govern its trading and which regulator supervises the platforms that handle it.

The Senate's inability to advance the bill leaves that framework unrealized, meaning the crypto industry continues to operate without the comprehensive federal rules the legislation was designed to provide. In practical terms, the questions the bill was written to settle remain unresolved, and oversight continues under the existing regulatory arrangements in place before the legislation.

Hougan, who publishes regular investment memos analyzing developments across crypto markets, used the Sept30 memo to argue that the legislative setback amounted to a favorable exchange rather than a loss for crypto, even though the industry gave up the prospect of near-term legislative progress. Whether and when the Senate revisits market-structure legislation remains the open question for the regulatory framework he described.

About Bitwise and Matt Hougan

Bitwise Asset Management is a cryptocurrency asset management firm known for its index-based investment products and its role as an issuer of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds in the United States. Those ETF products are registered and overseen by the SEC, which makes federal crypto rulemaking directly relevant to the firm's business. As the firm's chief investment officer, Hougan is among the most prominent voices in crypto asset management and a frequent commentator on Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market.

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This article was first published on COINOTAG on October 1, 2026.