Trump's Crypto Empire Just Killed the Clarity Act, But Bitcoin Ripped Past $80,000 Anyway

Crypto spent years and a reported fortune in lobbying money chasing one thing: a federal rulebook. This week it lost that fight in the US Senate. Then, three days later, Bitcoin jumped 6% for reasons that had nothing to do with Washington at all. Both facts matter, and they point in opposite directions.

What Happened to the Clarity Act in the Senate Vote?

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to reach the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate, ending months of negotiation with a tally that did not even produce a simple majority. Only 49 senators voted yes. Fifty voted no, including every Democrat and four Republicans.

The bill was not a minor housekeeping measure. It would have built a framework for digital assets, split oversight between the SEC and the CFTC, set registration requirements and tightened anti-money-laundering protections. Critics objected that handing the smaller CFTC the bulk of the authority was the industry's way of dodging serious scrutiny, a claim crypto executives rejected.

Republican leadership tried to save it at the last minute. A revised version released on Sunday added new ethics restrictions aimed at Democratic concerns about public officials profiting from crypto. It was not enough.