U.S. Senate Rejects Clarity Act, Triggering $570 Million in Crypto Long Liquidations

The U.S. Senate on Sept. 16 rejected the Clarity Act, a bill establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets, in a procedural vote, triggering bullish (long) position liquidations in futures markets totaling approximately $571 million (about ¥88 billion) over the past 24 hours. CoinDesk reported the figures, citing data compiled by market analytics firm CoinGlass.

The liquidation volume was the largest since Aug. 22, underscoring how strongly market participants had priced in a rally on expectations of the bill's passage. By asset, long liquidations in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) stood out at roughly $190 million (about ¥29 billion) each, followed by XRP at approximately $30 million (about ¥4.6 billion) and Solana (SOL) at around $22 million (about ¥3.4 billion).

Bearish (short) liquidations, by contrast, totaled only about $100 million (about ¥15 billion), indicating that the market had positioned itself heavily to the upside. Liquidation refers to the mechanism by which exchanges forcibly close futures positions when margin can no longer absorb losses.

Path to the Bill's Defeat

Earlier in the week, speculation spread that President Trump was prepared to make concessions on the bill's ethics provisions, sending Bitcoin from around $77,000 to briefly near $80,000. However, by Sept. 15, ahead of the vote, expectations grew that Democrats would maintain their opposition, erasing most of those gains.