$480 million in crypto gets wiped out after CLARITY Act fails

Leveraged crypto bulls paid a heavy price for betting on Washington.

Nearly 100,000 traders were liquidated in the 24 hours after the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act failed to clear the Senate's 60-vote procedural hurdle, with total liquidations reaching approximately $480 million, according to CoinGlass data.

Long positions, bets that prices would rise, accounted for $363 million of the damage, while short positions made up just $114 million, showing just how one-sided positioning had become heading into Tuesday's vote.

Related: Analyst says XRP could be ready for a big move

Positioned for a yes vote

Traders had spent the week leaning into optimism. Reports that President Donald Trump was open to concessions on the bill's ethics provisions pushed Bitcoin from about $77,000 on Monday to nearly $80,000 before the vote.

That unwind began roughly a day out, as signs emerged that Senate Democrats were not moving. Cloture ultimately failed 49-50, about ten votes shy of the threshold, with seven Democrats who had negotiated the text voting against it.

As reported earlier, a spokesperson for Lummis said Democrats had "not budged an inch," and Republicans dismissed the counterproposal outright.