The CLARITY Act, which sought to establish a new regulatory framework for the U.S. digital asset market, failed to clear the Senate. The legislative effort aimed at building a federal regulatory system for the issuance and trading of virtual assets has suffered a significant setback.

On the 15th (local time), the U.S. Senate held a vote on whether to proceed with deliberation of the CLARITY Act, but it failed with 49 votes in favor and 50 against. Approval of the procedural motion required the consent of 60 senators, or three-fifths of the full chamber, leaving the bill 11 votes short, with one senator not participating.

This vote was not a final floor vote on the CLARITY Act itself, but a step to decide whether to open proceedings to formally take up the bill. However, with even this hurdle not cleared, the time available to push the bill forward again in the current Congress has been sharply reduced.

Finding a breakthrough is also difficult given the political landscape. Republicans hold 53 of the Senate's 100 seats and cannot secure 60 votes on their own. Passing the bill required cooperation from some Democrats, but the two parties ultimately failed to find common ground.

In the virtual asset market, whether Congress will revisit the issue, along with what moves the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) may make at the administrative and regulatory levels, have emerged as new variables.

However, it would not be accurate to conclude that the CLARITY Act has been legally scrapped at this stage, since what failed this time was a procedural vote for proceeding with deliberation, not the final vote on the bill.

[This article is general information intended to report on U.S. virtual asset-related legislative developments and does not recommend the purchase or sale of any specific virtual asset. Virtual asset prices may experience greatly expanded volatility depending on policy and regulatory changes, and investment decisions and any resulting losses are the responsibility of the investor. AI assistance was used in part.]