While Bitcoin and crypto-linked stocks fell sharply after the US Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, Saxo Bank argues that exchanges such as Coinbase have more at stake than most market participants, because clearer rules could directly reshape their trading businesses. The bill is market-structure legislation: it would set the registration requirements, permissible asset types and participant categories that govern how digital asset trading operates in the US.

In a Wednesday note, Saxo strategist Ruben Dalfovo said Coinbase (COIN) is the most directly exposed company to developments around CLARITY, as market-structure rules could determine registration requirements, which assets can trade and who can participate in US crypto markets. For an exchange whose US operations center on trading, those variables effectively define the menu of products it can list and the pool of customers it can serve.

“Coinbase is most exposed to clearer market rules because trading and crypto participation directly affect its business,” Dalfovo wrote.

Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) and Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Strategy (MSTR) face different exposures, according to Dalfovo. Circle’s business is more closely tied to adoption of its USDC stablecoin and the interest earned on its reserves, while Strategy’s performance is driven primarily by its BTC holdings and financing structure.

As Cointelegraph reported late Tuesday, shares of all three companies fell between 5% and 10% after the Senate procedural vote, despite the differences in how the legislation could affect their businesses. The selloff continued early Wednesday, with Coinbase, Circle and Strategy all down between 2% and 6%, according to Yahoo Finance data.

Related: Democrats push back on GOP’s ‘final’ CLARITY offer with counterproposal

CLARITY faces narrowing path forward

The CLARITY Act failed a key procedural vote on Tuesday, with senators voting 49-50 against invoking cloture on a motion to proceed to the bill, well short of the 60 votes needed. The vote would have limited further debate and allowed the Senate to move toward considering the legislation on the floor.

Ethics provisions remained a major sticking point despite last-minute concessions aimed at addressing concerns over public officials’ crypto interests.

The setback significantly narrows the bill’s path forward this year. The Senate has a limited legislative calendar around the Nov. 3 midterm elections and is targeting Dec. 18 for adjournment, leaving lawmakers a relatively small window to revive the legislation before the current Congress ends. Tuesday’s 49-50 tally left supporters 11 votes short of the 60-vote cloture threshold, so any revived push would need to win over at least that many senators while competing for limited floor time. And because legislation that does not pass before a Congress expires must be reintroduced in the next one, the Dec. 18 target serves as the effective cutoff for this attempt. The near-term question is whether negotiators can produce a revised package that clears the 60-vote bar and restarts the process of bringing the bill to the floor.

Related: Crypto Biz: AI took a back seat when Bitcoin started climbing