Seven Democratic senators who voted against a procedural motion on the Clarity bill in the U.S. Senate said they would continue bipartisan consultations to advance the legislation.

On Sept. 17, blockchain media outlet CoinPost reported that the senators, in a joint statement, stressed that the result did not mean the end of discussions on crypto legislation.

The lawmakers who signed the statement were Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock, among seven. They said Democrats over the past 2 years have pushed to overhaul crypto-related laws, calling for expanding opportunities, protecting consumers, punishing malicious operators, clarifying regulation and strengthening ethics rules for elected officials.

In the statement, the senators said, "This week was a temporary setback, but it is not the end of this important effort." They also reaffirmed their intention to keep pushing for the bill’s enactment through bipartisan talks. The lawmakers who opposed the vote effectively made clear they would not abandon negotiations themselves.

The immediate backdrop to the dispute was a procedural vote on Sept. 16 in the Senate to begin consideration of the Clarity bill. It failed 49 to 50 and fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass. In addition to the seven Democrats, Republicans Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis voted against it.

The main issue Democrats raised was ethics rules. They judged there were not sufficient safeguards to prevent authorities and public officials from profiting from crypto businesses. Ruben Gallego criticised a Republican compromise proposal before the vote, saying it put personal profit-seeking ahead of tighter regulation. Conflict-of-interest safeguards, rather than the bill itself, emerged as the key issue.

In markets, some do not fully rule out the possibility the bill could be passed within the year. JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Washington and others wrote in a memo dated Sept. 16 that there was still room for the Clarity bill to pass this year. They said the time remaining had become tighter. With the Senate’s practical schedule before the midterm elections at only about 2 and a half weeks, they also forecast attention was likely to shift for now to rulemaking by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Mike Novogratz (마이크 노보그라츠), CEO of Galaxy Digital, also pointed to a partisan clash over ethics rules as the reason for the failure. He said the SEC and the CFTC would move first on rulemaking, which could lead to legislation in the longer term.

As a result, future points to watch narrow to two tracks. One is whether Democrats and Republicans can revise language on ethics rules and try again for a Senate vote. The other is how far the SEC and the CFTC will be able to bring forward rulemaking while congressional legislation is delayed. The Senate vote was blocked, but discussions on the U.S. crypto regulatory framework are continuing.