The U.S. Senate blocked the Clarity bill from entering Senate consideration, dealing a major blow to comprehensive market-structure regulation sought by the cryptocurrency industry. CNBC reported on Sept. 15 that a procedural vote was 50 in favour and 49 against, falling short of the 60 votes needed to bring the bill forward.

That left the bill stalled on Capitol Hill despite months of bipartisan talks. Republican leaders offered an amendment on Sept. 13 adding ethics rules to limit profits from cryptocurrency businesses by public officials, but it did not sway opposition.

Democrats in particular have demanded stricter treatment of profits from cryptocurrency businesses tied to President Donald Trump and his family. Senator Ruben Gallego (루벤 가예고), a key Democratic negotiator, criticised Republicans ahead of the vote, saying the existing compromise was an ethical deal that could win many Democratic votes, and that Republicans had put the president’s profit issue ahead of introducing regulation.

Markets reacted immediately. Bitcoin fell 3 percent, and shares of Coinbase and Circle fell 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

The Clarity bill sets out a cryptocurrency regulatory framework and divides supervisory authority between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The core provisions establish registration requirements and strengthen anti-money laundering safeguards.

Even if the procedural vote had passed, legislation would not have been completed right away. The bill would have needed further talks and votes in the Senate, then House passage before it could go to President Trump. Senator Cynthia Lummis (신시아 루미스), a leading crypto supporter in the Senate, said ahead of the vote that failure of the procedural vote would be the end.

With the rejection, the industry is increasingly likely to wait until next year for clearer rules. Some in the industry are pinning hopes on regulatory agency action rather than congressional legislation. The SEC has proposed allowing startups to sell up to $75 million worth of tokens without registration, and the CFTC recently approved the first bitcoin perpetual futures in the United States.

Midterm elections, now 7 weeks away, are also an obstacle to another push. Senators are set to leave Washington in early October and return only after the election, and the House will go into recess earlier at the end of this week. The vote also left open the possibility that the crypto political action committee Fairshake will use it as a catalyst to support rivals of senators who voted to block the Clarity bill.