Michael Saylor expects the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Treasury Department to write crypto market rules under existing law now that the CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate. With Congress repeatedly failing to advance the bill, Bitcoin holders and banks are increasingly looking to agencies to settle the industry's legal status.

In a post on X, one day after the Senate blocked a vote on the CLARITY Act, Saylor wrote that regulators can act now instead of waiting on legislators. “Progress need not wait for Congress,” Saylor wrote.

He said he expects banks to widen Bitcoin custody services and lend against the asset, and for more capital to move toward Bitcoin and digital credit. He also pointed to the GENIUS Act — the stablecoin framework signed into law in July 2025 — as support for stablecoin adoption.

The framing marks a pivot away from the legislative route the industry spent more than a year chasing. Saylor did not treat the bill as finished, but his message was that the outcome he wants no longer depends on its passing. The distinction matters: the bill would have written market structure into statute, whereas agency rules flow from authority and can be revised through later rulemakings.

Senate rejects cloture 49-50

The Senate rejected cloture — the procedural step needed to move the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act toward amendments and a final vote — by a vote of 49 to 50, falling 11 short of the 60 votes required, as Cryptopolitan reported.

Every vote in favor of the motion came from Republicans. However, four Republicans voted no: Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. No Democrat or independent backed the motion, and Delaware's Chris Coons did not vote.

The measure would have split oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC and set registration rules for exchanges, brokers, and dealers. Because it failed at the first procedural step, the Senate never reached amendments or a vote on passage. Republicans had presented a final revised version of the bill, saying it included 126 changes requested by Democrats.

Can regulators fill the legislative gap?

Former CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo told journalist Eleanor Terrett that the loss was a disappointment but would not stop the “march of innovation” in the United States. He said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and current CFTC Chairman Michael Selig would continue to develop the industry under their existing authority. Atkins has also said the agency will keep going regardless of what Congress does.

In August, for example, the SEC proposed what it called Regulation Crypto Assets, which would let firms issue up to $5 million in tokens over four years and up to $75 million over 12 months. The proposal also includes a safe harbor provision that would keep some cryptocurrencies from being treated as investment contracts.

Selig, meanwhile, directed CFTC staff to draft market-structure rules for crypto using powers the agency already holds, including a purpose-built designated contract market framework for leveraged trading, as Cryptopolitan reported in August.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also argued after the vote that both the CFTC and the SEC already have the tools to set clear rules. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called on Atkins and Selig to act, and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said the agencies should write rules until lawmakers pass a bill.

Analysts at Bernstein expect “aggressive and swift” rulemaking from the SEC and CFTC to recover the time spent negotiating the CLARITY Act. With the legislative door left open, the near-term markers are formal rule proposals from the two agencies — and whether the Senate makes another attempt at the bill.