The price of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies dropped over the past 24 hours after the “Clarity Act” legislation failed to pass a vote in the U.S. Senate.
The Clarity Act seeks to provide a regulatory roadmap for digital assets such as Bitcoin and it was widely viewed as critically important to the future development of the crypto sector.
Elected officials in the U.S. Senate voted to block the Clarity Act from advancing, dealing a major blow to the crypto industry’s push for a market structure framework.
The legislation received 50 votes for and 49 votes against, which was below the minimum 60 votes needed to advance the Clarity Act and get it closer to becoming law.
The Senate vote failed despite repeated calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for congress to approve the legislation and send it to him for his signature.
The bill would establish a framework for crypto and divide regulatory oversight between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The legislation would also set out registration requirements for crypto firms and strengthen protections against money laundering.
However, Democratic lawmakers have called for more stringent ethics rules in the Clarity Act to prevent elected officials such as Trump from benefiting from crypto ventures.
The failed Senate vote means the crypto industry will have to wait until next year for clearer rules. The Clarity Act isn’t expected to be revived until after November’s midterm congressional elections.
While the Clarity Act was widely expected to fail in the U.S. Senate, the results of the vote sent Bitcoin’s price down 4% to trade below $76,000 U.S., its lowest level in several weeks.
Other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) also fell immediately after the Senate vote was taken.
BTC is trading at $76,200 U.S. on Sept. 16.
