The U.S. Senate failed to pass a procedural vote on the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency market structure bill, sending bitcoin (BTC), XRP and shiba inu (SHIB) sharply lower, blockchain outlet U.Today reported on Sept. 15 local time.

The Senate rejected a cloture vote to move forward with H.R. 3633 by 49-50 on the day. The vote was a procedural step to bring the bill to the floor. Supporters needed 60 votes to end debate and move to the next step, but fell far short. That also put the brakes on comprehensive market structure legislation sought by the crypto industry.

The market reaction was immediate. Bitcoin traded around $76,000, down about 3.7 percent over 24 hours. XRP slid more than 7 percent to around $1.30. Shiba inu also joined the selling and fell about 3.7 percent to about $0.00000513. Major cryptocurrencies including ethereum and solana also weakened.

A key point the market focused on was that many Democratic senators who had taken part in bipartisan talks ultimately voted against the measure. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Catherine Cortez Masto opposed the bill's advance.

Among them, Warner, Alsobrooks, Booker, Gallego, Cortez Masto and Warnock have said the Republican-backed Clarity bill needs stronger provisions addressing ethics, consumer protection, illicit funds, conflicts of interest and market integrity. The issue was whether safeguards were sufficient rather than the bill’s wording itself.

Lisa Blunt Rochester also voted against it. She opposed the bill during a review by the Senate Banking Committee in May as well, arguing at the time, "Concerns related to investor protection, market integrity, illicit funds and financial stability have not been sufficiently addressed." John Fetterman also joined the opposition this time, though he previously supported the 'Genius' (GENIUS) stablecoin bill.

The blame for the bill's failure did not lie solely with Democrats. Three Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Jerry Moran of Kansas — also voted against advancing it. With defections in a procedural vote requiring bipartisan agreement, vote consolidation is likely to become a key variable in future efforts to push similar legislation.

The bill had drawn expectations as a structural measure to comprehensively address the U.S. crypto market. But the result showed that political differences over market structure reforms remain wide. Follow-on legislation may also face a rough path unless disputes over investor protection, market integrity and provisions to prevent illicit funds are resolved.