LATEST: Clarity Act fails to pass US Senate in major blow to crypto industry

By Hannah ​Lang

THE ​U.S. Senate has failed 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, Susan Collins, 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.