Bitcoin, BTC-Related Stocks Tumble After Senate Blocks Clarity Act
Key Takeaways
- •The U.S. Senate rejected the procedural vote to advance the Clarity Act, with 49 senators in favor and 50 opposed.
- •Bitcoin declined about 4% on Tuesday, trading near $75,939 after dipping as low as $75,038.
- •Crypto-related stocks fell alongside bitcoin, with Coinbase dropping more than 10% and Strategy sliding over 5%.
- •Publicly traded bitcoin miners MARA, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific each declined 5% or more during the day.
- •The Clarity Act aimed to allocate digital asset oversight among regulators by defining which tokens are securities, commodities, or stablecoins, and its defeat leaves that regulatory framework unresolved.
Bitcoin's price tumbled on Tuesday — along with a broad swath of bitcoin-related stocks — after the U.S. Senate blocked the long-awaited Clarity Act, the landmark digital asset market structure bill the industry has long pushed Congress to pass.
The leading cryptocurrency recently stood at $75,939, down 4% over the past day, after dipping as low as $75,038 at one point on Tuesday. The decline followed a procedural vote in which lawmakers halted the bill's advancement. Major companies in the digital asset space have long called for clear rules to be put in place to regulate the industry.
Bitcoin was not the only asset under pressure. Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), America's biggest crypto exchange, dropped by more than 10%, while Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, slid by over 5%. Major publicly traded bitcoin miners also declined, with MARA, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific all slipping by 5% or more over the past day.
Senators voted 49 for and 50 against advancing the legislation. The bill aims to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities, or stablecoins. The failed procedural vote leaves that proposed regulatory framework unresolved in Congress.
President Donald Trump last month urged lawmakers to pass the bill, helping spur a bitcoin rally. Republicans, meanwhile, had warned for months that Democrats were deliberately holding it back — and on Tuesday, they did.
BREAKING: U.S. Senate DOES NOT PASS the Clarity Act in its procedural cloture vote. pic.twitter.com/1nYTgYZo5P
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 15, 2026
https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/2099933434697146794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Anti-crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren warned Congress against voting for the bill on Tuesday, slamming the legislation as "a massive risk to families." Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on X that the bill was "corrupt."
Lawmakers had a problem with the bill in part because they said it unfairly allowed Trump to make money from the crypto industry. The president's family has cashed in with numerous crypto ventures since Trump took office, but the White House has always denied any wrongdoing.
"Crypto billionaires have spent nearly $300M on the midterm elections," Sanders added. "Meanwhile, Trump and his family have pocketed more than $1.4B from crypto deals."
Pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis slammed Democrats for blocking the bill. Writing on X (https://x.com/SenLummis/status/2099947865468523001), the Republican said: "The once-proud Democratic party is anti-consumer and pro-illicit finance, anti-ethics, anti-free enterprise, anti-worker, anti-livable wage jobs, and pro-socialism. The Democrats are now anti-American."
This article was originally reported by Mathew Di Salvo for Bitcoin Magazine.
