Ethereum Falls to $2,400 as the CLARITY Act Fails in the Senate

The Senate's failure to advance crypto legislation left Ethereum's staking and DeFi rules in limbo just as a looming Federal Reserve rate decision puts a critical technical support level to the test.

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Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) trades at $2,402, back near its pre-August rally level after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15, 2026. The cloture vote fell 49–50, ten votes short of the 60 needed to move the bill forward. All Democrats voted against it, including the seven who had negotiated the text for months, while Republicans Moran, Paul, Hawley and Tillis also voted no.

For Ethereum, that leaves the bill’s proposed rules on staking, DeFi and stablecoin yields unresolved rather than changed. Those provisions now await another attempt at legislation, while ETH is testing its last major support before the Federal Reserve’s rate decision. With markets pricing in a rate hike, the immediate question is whether buyers defend support or the technical setup breaks first.

What the CLARITY Act Would Have Settled for Ethereum

Staking remains one of Ethereum’s biggest unresolved regulatory questions. Whether staked ETH and staking-as-a-service should be treated as securities has remained contested at the SEC since 2023, and the SEC and CFTC’s March 17, 2026 joint interpretation did not settle the issue. That leaves U.S. custodians and staking providers operating without a definitive federal position on how to classify those services.