US Senate fails to advance sweeping cryptocurrency bill in blow for industry

By Hannah Lang

Sept 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate failed on Tuesday to advance comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation backed by President Donald Trump in a major blow for digital asset companies and ‌Republicans who had championed the bill for months.

The bill, called the Clarity Act, fell 10 ‌short of reaching the 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber, as four Republican senators — Jerry Moran, Rand ​Paul, Josh Hawley and Thom Tillis — joined all the Democrats in voting against it. The vote was 50-49 in favor.

The vote effectively put the bill on ice, as Congress is set to depart Washington this month ahead of the November midterm elections in which Trump's fellow Republicans are fighting to retain control of the House ‌of Representatives and Senate.

Tillis switched his ⁠vote from yes to no in a procedural move that preserves his ability to bring the measure back up for reconsideration later.

Senate Republicans on Sunday night released a ⁠new text of the bill in a last-ditch effort to address concerns from the banking industry and some Democrats, but the opponents were not swayed.

The Clarity Act aimed to create a regulatory framework for digital assets, which crypto ​companies say ​would put them on a more solid legal footing. ​The deep-pocketed industry spent hundreds of millions of ‌dollars campaigning to advance the bill.