Major cryptocurrencies moved lower Wednesday after the U.S. Senate rejected a procedural motion to advance the Clarity Act, with XRP posting the largest decline among the leading tokens.
XRP fell almost 10% to $1.30 during Asian morning trading, according to CoinDesk data. The move followed the Senate’s 49-50 vote on the legislation, which left the bill 11 votes below the 60 required to clear the procedural hurdle.
The selling extended across the market. Ether declined nearly 5% to around $2,410, while Solana dropped about 5% to just above $97. Dogecoin also lost nearly 5%. Zcash and Hyperliquid’s HYPE each declined close to 4%.
Bitcoin fell nearly 3%, trading slightly above $76,000. BNB and Tron were among the relatively smaller decliners, each losing about 1%.
Clarity Act Fails to Advance
The Senate’s cloture vote ended the latest attempt to move the market structure bill toward debate. The 49-50 result included opposition from multiple Republicans, leaving the legislation without the 60 votes needed.
The proposal had been developed through more than 600 pages of negotiations between lawmakers. Ethics provisions became one of the final areas of disagreement, with the bill seeking to restrict senior government officials from maintaining crypto-related business interests.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said she opposed the bill because she believed its ethics safeguards were inadequate. She cited President Donald Trump, his children and Cabinet members as examples of government figures earning money from crypto.
Slotkin also questioned whether the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has enough personnel to implement the proposed framework. She said the bill also failed to fully address issues involving money laundering and terrorist financing.
Crypto Stocks Fall Even More
Shares of crypto companies declined more sharply than most major tokens.
Coinbase dropped almost 9% to $174.42, while Circle fell more than 9% to $88.26. Galaxy Digital declined 8%, and Gemini lost 7%.
Bullish and Riot Platforms each fell 5%, while eToro declined 4%. Robinhood, MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN and Core Scientific posted losses ranging from 3% to 4%.
Regulatory Route Comes Into Focus
With the legislation stalled, investors and industry participants are turning their attention back to federal regulators.
The SEC is developing its proposed Reg Crypto framework and is also working on rules for tokenized securities. Those initiatives now provide a regulatory path for some of the clarity the crypto sector had sought through Congress.
Political groups representing the industry, including Fairshake, must also determine how to respond to senators who voted against the measure before the Nov. 3 election. The next Congress will begin in January 2027.
Fed Decision Looms
The Federal Reserve’s rate decision later Wednesday adds another major event to an already volatile session. Markets are leaning toward a 25-basis-point rate increase.
The policy announcement comes as cryptocurrencies are already facing selling pressure following the Senate vote, putting monetary policy and the failed legislative effort at the center of market attention.
