The US Senate blocked a crypto bill on 15 September 2026. The bill is the CLARITY Act. It would set federal rules for crypto trading. It needed 60 yes votes to start debate. It got 49.
We wrote this on 8 November 2026, after the midterm elections of 3 November. Midterm elections are the elections held halfway through a president's four-year term.
Will the CLARITY Act pass? That is not yet known. The Senate fell 11 votes short of the 60 it needed to start debate on 15 September 2026. We found no announced date for another vote as of 8 November 2026.
The bill would split the oversight of crypto trading between two US agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) polices company shares and similar investments. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) polices raw goods such as oil and gold. It also polices contracts on them.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in July 2025. A bill becomes law only after both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate, pass it and the president signs it.
News outlets project that Democrats will control the Senate and the House when the new Congress starts in January 2027. A bill that has not passed by then generally has to start again.
What is the CLARITY Act?
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is also called H.R. 3633, its number in Congress.
Crypto, short for cryptocurrency, means digital tokens such as Bitcoin that move over a computer network instead of through a bank. A token is one unit of such an asset. Our guide to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana compares the three biggest networks.
The US has no single rulebook for crypto trading. Two agencies claim parts of it. The SEC supervises securities. The CFTC supervises commodities and futures contracts, which are agreements to buy or sell at a set price on a future date.
The Senate record calls it "a system of regulation of the offer and sale of digital commodities by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission." A digital commodity is a crypto token that the law would treat like a commodity, not a security.
What would the bill change for exchanges and stablecoins?
An exchange is a website where people buy and sell tokens. Under the House-passed text, the CFTC would have exclusive jurisdiction over spot transactions in digital commodities, the trades where tokens change hands for immediate delivery. Spot trading facilities would register with the CFTC as digital commodity exchanges. According to the news site FinTech Weekly, which tracks the bill, exchanges would also keep customer assets apart from their own. The SEC would keep tokens that count as securities.
A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to always be worth one dollar. The 2025 stablecoin law, the GENIUS Act, bars the company that creates the token from paying holders interest directly. Whether related companies may pay holders rewards stayed open in the CLARITY Act talks.
DeFi means decentralised finance, software that lets people trade or lend without a company in the middle. According to FinTech Weekly, the bill would give software developers limited safe harbours, which are legal protections that apply if a developer follows set conditions.
The Senate Banking Committee approved its own version in May 2026, according to DLA Piper.
A spot Bitcoin ETF is a fund that trades on a stock exchange like a share and holds actual Bitcoin. Our guide to spot Bitcoin ETFs explains them. The sources we opened do not say that the bill changes how they work.
How did the House vote?
The House passed H.R. 3633 on 17 July 2025, 294 votes to 134. The Clerk of the House records each vote by name, which is called a roll call.
All 216 Republicans who voted said yes, as did 78 Democrats. All 134 no votes were Democratic. Four Republicans did not vote.
The table sets the House vote beside the Senate vote.
Vote | Date | Result | Yes | No | Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
House, passage of H.R. 3633 | 17 July 2025 | Passed | 294 | 134 | Majority of those voting |
Senate, cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 | 15 September 2026 | Rejected | 49 | 50 | 60 of 100 |
Source: Clerk of the US House of Representatives, roll call 199; US Senate, roll call vote 234
The House passed the bill by a majority of those voting. The Senate vote failed because it needed 60 of 100 senators, not a majority.
What happened in the Senate on 15 September 2026?
The Senate voted on cloture on the motion to proceed. The motion to proceed is the step that starts floor debate.
A filibuster is a Senate tradition that lets a minority delay a bill by prolonging debate. Cloture is the vote that ends one. It takes three-fifths of the Senate, which is 60 votes.
The Senate roll call, vote 234, ended 49 yes and 50 no, with one senator not voting. The Senate record shows the motion as rejected. It fell 11 votes short.
All 49 yes votes were Republican. The 50 no votes came from 44 Democrats, two independents, and four Republicans: Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran, and Thom Tillis. Passing the bill would have taken further votes after that one.
Why did the CLARITY Act stall?
The law firm DLA Piper sets out eight areas of objection from the senators who voted no. They include how far the ethics rules reach, who enforces the law, consumer protection, money laundering, and whether the bill overrides state fraud laws.
FinTech Weekly adds the stablecoin rewards question.
How do the midterm elections change the bill's chances?
The Associated Press projected that Democrats won the Senate, according to Al Jazeera on 4 November 2026. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats and had won at least seven seats from Republicans. The public broadcaster NPR also reported seven Senate pickups on 4 November. The US television network ABC News projected the same day that Democrats also won the House. Counts in some races were still open on 4 November.
The current Congress, the 119th, ends in January 2027. The 120th begins then. DLA Piper states that bills not enacted in one Congress generally have to be reintroduced in the next and go through committee again.
The 15 September vote shows where each party stood. No Democrat voted yes. Whether a Democratic Senate would take up the bill in the same form is not known.
What is known and not known about the bill's next step?
Known: the House passed the bill. The Senate rejected the motion to start debate. Senator Tillis voted no so that he could enter a motion to reconsider, a formal request to hold the vote again, according to the Senate's record of the day.
Known: the Senate's tentative 2026 calendar lists no break on 9 and 10 November, 16 to 20 November, or 30 November to 18 December. The Senate could meet on those days.
Not known: whether the Senate will vote again in a lame-duck session. A lame-duck session is the time after an election when the outgoing members of Congress still vote, including some who lost or are retiring. Also not known: whether any change to the text would win the 11 missing votes.
What can US regulators do without the law?
Agencies can write rules without a new law. The SEC proposed a rule on crypto assets, called Regulation Crypto Assets, on 18 August 2026, according to the Congressional Research Service. A rule is not a law passed by Congress. A later administration can change it, while a law is harder to undo.
The CLARITY Act passed the House and fell 11 votes short of starting debate in the Senate. It is not law.
The 119th Congress sits until January 2027. After that, what happens next is not known. Our guides to crypto stocks and Bitcoin volatility cover the market the bill would regulate.
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Common questions about the CLARITY Act
Is the CLARITY Act law?
No. The CLARITY Act has passed only the House of Representatives, by 294 to 134 on 17 July 2025. The Senate rejected the motion to start debate on 15 September 2026 by 49 to 50. A bill becomes law only after both chambers pass it and the president signs it.
How many votes does the CLARITY Act need in the Senate?
It needed 60 of 100 votes to end a filibuster and start debate. The 15 September 2026 vote reached 49. A filibuster is a tactic that lets a minority delay a bill by prolonging debate. The Senate would need further votes on the bill after that step.
Can the CLARITY Act pass in a lame-duck session?
It can, but only if the Senate holds another vote before January 2027. We found no announced vote. A lame-duck session is the time after an election when the outgoing Congress still votes. Bills not enacted by January generally have to start again, according to the law firm DLA Piper.
What is the difference between the SEC and the CFTC?
The SEC supervises securities, which are investments such as company shares. The CFTC supervises commodities, which are raw goods such as oil or gold. It also supervises futures contracts on them. The CLARITY Act would give the CFTC oversight of crypto spot markets, while the SEC keeps tokens that count as securities.
What is a digital commodity?
It is a crypto token that regulators would treat as a commodity, a raw good traded in bulk, instead of a security, an investment such as a share. The bill's description names the SEC and CFTC as regulators of the offer and sale of digital commodities. Bitcoin is the usual example.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for educational purposes only. Any information or analysis in this note does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice, nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
