CLARITY Act Vote Today [LIVE] Updates: Crypto Bill Blocked As Senate Fails To Reach 60 Votes

The Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, falling short in a 49-50 vote. Three Republicans broke ranks to vote against the bill: Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Missouri) and Jerry Moran (Kansas). Senator Thom Tillis also voted no, though procedurally, as part of a motion to recommit.

Grayscale acknowledged the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act to formal debate, calling it “not the outcome we hoped for.” The firm said the industry continues making progress through ongoing work from regulators like the SEC and CFTC, and reaffirmed its commitment to advancing clear digital asset rules by continuing to work with policymakers and regulators as US crypto policy matures.

Several Democrats who spent months negotiating the CLARITY Act, including Gillibrand, Warner, Booker, Warnock, Gallego, Alsobrooks and Cortez Masto, all voted no, according to Eleanor Terrett. One industry leader texted her and said “It died.”

According to reports, the Senate has failed to advance the CLARITY Act, with the cloture vote falling short of the 60 votes needed to move the bill to formal debate.

Attorney MetaLawMan said that if today’s CLARITY Act cloture vote fails, he expects CFTC Chairman Selig and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to issue statements confirming both agencies intend to continue advancing crypto regulations independently, regardless of the bill’s outcome.

Senator Elizabeth Warren called on fellow senators to reject the CLARITY Act. “I urge my colleagues to vote no,” Warren said as the Senate’s cloture vote got underway.

The Senate is voting on the CLARITY Act’s cloture motion now, requiring 60 votes to advance the bill to formal debate.

Bipartisan negotiations on the CLARITY Act shut down just before the vote, with staff for Senator Tim Scott ending a final discussion on ethics provisions held in Senator Thom Tillis’s office. With talks concluded, the vote is now underway. According to an initial tally, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted no on cloture.

CLARITY Act author Senator Cynthia Lummis is making her final case ahead of the vote, calling on Democrats to support advancing the bill following significant Republican concessions on ethics and other provisions. However, signs suggest bipartisan negotiations may have reached an abrupt standstill just hours before the vote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the CLARITY Act will help prevent another collapse like FTX, emphasizing the bill’s bipartisan roots. “This bill has had bipartisan support from the beginning,” Thune said, adding, “the only reason for this progress to end now would be if Democrats choose politics over good policy.”

Senate Republicans released what Senator Cynthia Lummis called their “last, best and final” version of the CLARITY Act, a 635-page text following a year of negotiations. A procedural vote is set for 2:15 PM ET and requires 60 votes to reach the floor. Lummis said Trump accepted ethics limits on officials’ personal investments as part of the final package.

Democrats’ CLARITY Act counteroffer, rejected by Republicans, sought several changes: extending ethics restrictions to officials’ dependent children, requiring officials with crypto-company stakes of at least 10% or $1 million to divest within 180 days, lowering the enforcement threshold while limiting ethics waivers, requiring paid crypto promoters to disclose compensation, and clarifying DeFi protections alongside stronger customer safeguards. The circulating document does not specify which particular demand triggered Republicans’ rejection.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong framed today’s vote as a binary choice for senators: vote yes on the CLARITY Act to promote innovation, protect consumers, impose new ethics restrictions on elected officials, and create new law enforcement tools against illicit finance, or vote no and let other countries lead in building the future of finance. “History, and the crypto voter, won’t forget,” Armstrong said.

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) signaled uncertainty over how she’ll vote on the CLARITY Act, describing the bill as a “moving target.” She noted the legislation runs more than 600 pages, includes a new ethics provision, and contains other elements she still needs to review, including whether it could cause community banks to lose deposits.

Senator Bill Hagerty urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act, calling it essential for keeping America in the driver’s seat on digital assets and blockchain technology. “We need clear rules of the road for customers and our financial system,” Hagerty said. “Let’s get it done.”

Bitwise’s Matt Hougan argued the case for the CLARITY Act by contrasting two regulatory approaches. He said the “Gensler-Warren playbook” led to FTX, Terra Luna, and Three Arrows Capital, while the “sensible regulation” approach produced low-cost ETFs, regulated futures, and institutional investment. His question for lawmakers: “Why not double down on what’s working and pass Clarity?”

With the CLARITY Act cloture vote hours away, several senators remain undecided. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he’s “still contemplating” his vote, telling reporters he’s simply weighing “whether to vote yes or no.” On the Democratic side, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) is also undecided, while Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) declined to answer questions on his position. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) confirmed he will vote no on cloture.

Rep. French Hill said the Senate has grappled with three major issues on the CLARITY Act: ethics, illicit finance, and bank deposit concerns tied to stablecoins. “The bill addresses all three of those points,” Hill said, adding, “let’s see if they can get a good vote today at 3:00.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent backed both the Bitcoin Reserve and the CLARITY Act after Rep. Brad Sherman pushed back on the idea, arguing no country that ever won a war had a Bitcoin reserve and that funds should instead go toward oil and rare earth reserves, which he said are safer than Bitcoin, “which we could lose in a day.” Bessent responded by linking the reserve’s security directly to the pending legislation. “That’s why I’m pushing the passage of the CLARITY Act, because it gives Treasury more authorities to seek out this evasion,” he said.

TD Cowen’s base case puts a 60% probability on today’s Senate cloture vote on the CLARITY Act falling short, with the vote expected around 2:15 PM ET. The bank outlined three other possible outcomes. A 20% chance cloture passes with Democrats getting to introduce their counterproposal as an amendment, a 15% chance the bill gets shelved until after the election, and just a 5% chance it becomes law before then.

Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Monday he plans to vote for cloture on the CLARITY Act, calling himself “very pleased” with what the White House delivered on ethics provisions. He suggested lawmakers with remaining concerns should still let the bill advance to debate. “If it doesn’t address their concerns, once it’s amendable, then don’t vote for it on the back end,” Tillis said.

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt suggested the banking industry isn’t genuinely worried about stablecoin-driven deposit flight, arguing that if it were, lobbyists would be actively pushing senators to advance the bill first and negotiate changes afterward. “If this bill fails, they get none of the protections they claim to desperately need,” Witt said, noting the lobby hasn’t taken that approach. “Draw your own conclusions.”

With the Senate set to vote on the CLARITY Act in just over four hours, the morning brought a flurry of dueling statements. Senator Lummis’s office dismissed Democrats’ counter-offer as unserious, while Senator Warner’s office countered that the asks shouldn’t surprise anyone. Senate Banking Committee spokesperson Jeff Naft, representing Senator Scott’s office, maintained the bill’s text is final. With battle lines drawn on both sides just hours out, the vote’s outcome remains uncertain.

Senate Banking Committee spokesperson Jeff Naft suggested Republicans won’t budge further on the CLARITY Act, saying the final text already reflects more than a year of bipartisan negotiations. “We hope Democrats will recognize the strong bipartisan package in front of them,” Naft said.

A spokesperson for Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) pushed back after criticism from Senator Cynthia Lummis’s office, saying Democrats’ demands aren’t new. “This is language Democrats have been seeking for the better part of a year,” the spokesperson said. “These provisions should come as no surprise, nor should they be controversial.”

Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz warned that if the CLARITY Act fails to advance tomorrow, comprehensive crypto regulation could be off the table for years, “if ever.” He said the outcome would be damaging for the US and push more of the industry offshore. Novogratz said the broader digital asset revolution would continue regardless, with the SEC and CFTC still able to set interim rules allowing businesses to operate. But he warned that prolonged regulatory uncertainty isn’t good for the industry long-term, urging senators on both sides to “see the big picture.”

Republicans dismissed a CLARITY Act counter-offer from Senate Democrats, with a spokesperson for Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) saying Democrats “have not budged an inch.” The spokesperson added that Democrats “need to actually start negotiating instead of resubmitting the same demands and calling it progress.”

Analyst Scott Melker pushed back on misconceptions circulating about today’s Senate vote, clarifying that the Senate is not actually voting on the CLARITY Act itself today. “They are voting on whether to maybe vote in the future,” Melker said, addressing confusion around prediction markets tied to the bill that he says are closing based on a misunderstanding of what today’s procedural vote actually decides.

Analyst Lewis Harland explained why today’s procedural cloture vote carries outsized weight for the CLARITY Act’s chances. With Republicans holding just 53 of 100 Senate seats, clearing the 60-vote cloture threshold requires meaningful bipartisan support, even assuming full Republican unity. Harland said that once cloture clears, final passage only requires a simple majority. In practice, that means securing 60 votes today would send a strong signal the bill already has enough support to pass the Senate outright.

Galaxy Digital’s Alex Thorn defended the CLARITY Act against ongoing criticism, calling it a genuine product of years of bipartisan compromise. He said the bill’s core, clear market structure rules with jurisdictional clarity and meaningful new investor protections, represents a “game changer” for both innovation and consumer protection. Thorn dismissed much of the current debate as “basically nitpicking,” arguing that while every concern raised is valid, legislation inherently requires compromise.

Chainlink’s Chris Barrett said he believes the CLARITY Act will pass today with more than 60 votes. After 14 years in crypto and 9 years helping build Chainlink, he called the moment a turning point for America, giving builders, institutions and markets the confidence to move forward. “Today it’s time to pass the Clarity Act,” Barrett said.

Senator Elizabeth Warren called the CLARITY Act “insulting to the American people,” arguing crypto enables criminals and terrorists while threatening financial stability. Senator Cynthia Lummis fired back, accusing Warren’s approach of building a “surveillance state in the making” that would let the federal government monitor Americans through their bank accounts. “This is wrong. This is un-American,” Lummis said.

Today’s Senate vote on H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act, at 2:15 PM ET is only a procedural step to begin debate, not final passage. It requires 60 votes, meaning at least 7 Democrats must join Republicans, to secure cloture. If successful, a final passage vote requiring just 51 votes would likely follow between Wednesday and Thursday. If it fails, the bill returns to debate for an unspecified period.

Sen. Jon Curtis (R-Utah) told reporters he will vote for cloture on the CLARITY Act, allowing debate to proceed, but remains opposed to the underlying bill as written. “I will vote to proceed, but right now, I’m a no on passage,” Curtis said. Curtis had previously flagged concerns in August over the bill’s potential impact on community bank deposits, a worry that continues to shape his opposition to final passage.

Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton said he predicted two months ago that Democrats would find a reason not to vote for the CLARITY Act, even if Trump agreed to their demands, arguing the real motive is denying Trump any legislative win before the midterms. Deaton, who has said he isn’t a Trump supporter, argued Washington politicians prioritize partisan control above all else. “They hate Trump and despise him being reelected so much that if America was burning to the ground, and it was Trump who held the water hose to put the fire out, they’d turn off the water,” he said.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he’s optimistic the CLARITY Act will advance tomorrow, framing the vote as a test of who supports American leadership in finance. “I’m pretty optimistic that we’re going to get more than 60 votes tomorrow,” Armstrong said, citing thousands of hours of bipartisan work behind the bill. Armstrong called the vote “a massive moment,” saying it will show who backs building the future of the financial system under U.S. regulatory oversight, and who doesn’t. “There’s no do-overs,” he added.

The White House is making a final push to convince Senate Republicans to advance the CLARITY Act today, countering banking industry concerns over stablecoins. Officials plan to launch an interactive tool letting users “set the parameters, run the scenarios, and see for themselves” why the Council of Economic Advisers found no meaningful link between stablecoin growth and community bank deposit flight. The site will also include an FAQ addressing banks’ critiques. “The data simply does not support the deposit flight narrative that DC bank lobbyists are pushing,” said White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt.

A group of Senate Democrats is expected to meet to discuss strategy and coordinate a counterproposal to the CLARITY Act text Republicans released last night, according to Eleanor Terrett, despite the GOP calling it their “last, best and final” offer. Industry sources say the counterproposal is expected to address most, if not all, of the targeted changes Republicans made. It remains unclear whether Republicans will offer further concessions ahead of tomorrow’s vote, or tell Democrats they must vote to advance the bill first if they want additional changes.

The Trump administration is making a final push for Senate Republicans to back the CLARITY Act ahead of Tuesday’s procedural vote, according to Semafor. The White House Council of Economic Advisers plans to release an interactive tool letting users model stablecoin growth against community-bank deposits, arguing current data doesn’t support claims of large-scale deposit flight. Some Republican senators remain wary of stablecoin rewards, while some Democrats say the latest ethics restrictions on Trump don’t go far enough.