Crypto's Market-Structure Bill Dies in the Senate Over Trump Ethics Fight

The Clarity Act, meant to set clear federal rules for how crypto assets are regulated, failed in the Senate after negotiators could not resolve disputes that emerged in the final hours, according to the Financial Times and CoinDesk. The core sticking point was concern among senators over potential conflicts of interest tied to President Trump's own crypto-related business ties, which split votes that had appeared to be lining up in the bill's favor. The defeat matters because the crypto industry had treated the bill as its best chance in years to get a legal framework distinguishing which digital assets count as securities versus commodities, a distinction that has driven years of regulatory fights with the SEC. Industry lobbying spend on the effort ran into record territory, per CoinDesk, making the collapse a costly loss with no clear replacement path yet in sight. What remains unresolved is whether backers will try to strip out the contested provisions and reintroduce a narrower bill, or whether the effort is dead until at least the next Congress.