XRP News: Garlinghouse Says XRP and Ripple’s Business Unaffected by Failed Clarity Act Vote

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the Senate’s failed vote on the Clarity Act does not affect XRP or Ripple’s operations, pointing to the legal clarity the company already won in its court case with the SEC.

What Garlinghouse Said

Speaking at the HDAX event alongside Esther George, Garlinghouse reiterated that the Clarity Act’s outcome has no bearing on XRP or Ripple’s business. According to Jake Claver, who attended the discussion, Garlinghouse based this on the legal precedent set in Ripple’s court case with the SEC three years ago. “XRP has clarity,” Claver said, summarizing Garlinghouse’s comments.

Garlinghouse also said that while he supports the Clarity Act, its outcome won’t stop crypto’s progress long-term. “When you have a technology that’s better, faster, stronger, that usually wins,” he said, arguing existing financial infrastructure simply hasn’t kept pace. He also said it’s “ridiculous” how many other G20 countries already have crypto regulatory frameworks in place, questioning why the US would want to cede the technology to other nations.

Vote That Failed

The Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act on September 15, falling short of the 60 votes needed on a cloture motion by a 49-50 margin. Garlinghouse had pushed hard for the bill beforehand, writing on social media that it represented “real, substantive trades policymakers made” and urging senators not to treat it as something to settle for. “Now is the time to vote yes,” he wrote.

Not Necessarily the End

Despite the setback, seven Democratic senators, including Kirsten Gillibrand, who voted against advancing the bill, said in a joint statement they remain committed to passing crypto legislation and that this vote was not the end of their work.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire pointed to a similar precedent with the Genius Act, which also failed an initial cloture vote before passing weeks later. “We don’t really know what’s gonna happen here,” Allaire said.

What’s Still Unresolved

With the Clarity Act stalled, questions the bill was meant to settle in law, including which tokens count as securities, which count as commodities, and how exchanges must protect customer assets, remain governed by regulatory agency interpretation rather than statute, leaving them open to being changed by a future administration.