CLARITY Act Fails 49-50: Morpho’s Faustine Fleuret Explains What It Means For US DeFi Builders

Washington is writing crypto rules with or without Congress. That is the view of Faustine Fleuret, global head of public affairs at DeFi lending protocol Morpho, after the CLARITY Act fell one vote short of advancing in the Senate.

Fleuret told Coinpedia the 49-50 outcome has been widely misread.

“The Senate did not vote against regulating crypto, it failed to open the debate,” she said.

Fifty senators declined to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, she explained, mainly because lawmakers had not agreed on ethics rules for elected officials.

Regulators Are Already Filling the Gap

For builders targeting US users, Fleuret called the setback “real but partial.” She pointed to several recent federal actions:

• Commissioner Hester Peirce’s July 2026 statement on crypto vaults and onchain lending strategies.
• The SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets and an innovation exemption for trading tokenized NMS stocks.
• A CFTC staff no-action position covering providers of passive software.

Fleuret argued that once firms build on an agency framework, it tends to stay.

“It cannot simply be erased with a stroke of a pen in 2029,” Fleuret said, although a future Congress could in theory take a different route.

She was clear that only a statute can settle jurisdiction and give builders long-term certainty.

Peirce’s Statement Is a Warning as Much as a Welcome

Fleuret reads the Peirce statement “less as goodwill than as a reminder.”

Depending on their structure, some vaults may fall under existing securities classifications. Peirce asked builders to work out a compliant path instead of assuming they sit outside the regulatory perimeter.

Fleuret flagged two limits. A statement is not a Commission rule, and the SEC cannot go beyond the jurisdiction Congress gave it.

Peirce did acknowledge that vaults vary, that some fall outside current rules, and that regulations hampering innovation should be amended.

Why Vaults Need Their Own Treatment

Traditional finance bundles lending infrastructure with the judgment that decides where capital goes. Vaults split the two, which Fleuret says makes them “a genuine new primitive” that existing rules struggle to map.

Morpho is not seeking a new rulebook, she said, but recognition of what makes non-custodial vaults different. The company is making that case directly to regulators.

The $175 Million Question

Asked whether Morpho’s $175 million raise came because of regulatory clarity or despite its absence, Fleuret pointed to the product.

According to Fleuret, investors backed infrastructure holding more than $16 billion in deposits and already used by Coinbase, Robinhood and Société Générale.

She said the funding came as the SEC, CFTC and Treasury are engaging with the sector rather than litigating against it.

Europe Is Losing the Stablecoin Race

Roughly 99% of stablecoin value is dollar-denominated, and the GENIUS Act of July 2025 gave that lead a federal legal footing.

MiCA has covered stablecoin issuers since June 2024, yet Fleuret said a lack of political vision around onchain settlement and payments has held back euro stablecoin issuers.

For the MiCA review, she called for two changes:

• No additional burdens on euro stablecoin issuers.
• Clearer compliance guidance so euro stablecoins can continue circulating on DeFi rails.