Senate voted to block the Clarity Act from advancing, leaving the crypto market structure bill stalled.

Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) shares slid 8% on Tuesday as the Senate blocked the Clarity Act from advancing, dealing a major setback to the crypto industry’s push for a comprehensive market structure framework.

The motion to proceed received 50 votes in favor and 49 against, falling well short of the 60 votes required to clear the procedural hurdle. Bitcoin was last down 3%, while Circle shares fell 10% amid a broader market sell-off.

Key details

• The Senate voted 50-49 on the motion to proceed with the Clarity Act.
• The measure needed 60 votes to advance to Senate debate and consideration.
• Coinbase shares slid 8%, while Circle shares dropped 10%.
• Bitcoin was last down 3%.
• The bill would divide crypto oversight between the Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Clarity Act stalls after bipartisan negotiations

The procedural defeat leaves the legislation stalled after months of negotiations aimed at building bipartisan support. Republican leaders released a revised version Sunday that added ethics restrictions intended to address Democratic concerns about public officials profiting from crypto ventures.

Those revisions did not resolve the remaining opposition. Democrats had expressed frustration that Republican negotiators did not meet their ethics demands concerning profits gained from crypto ventures by President Donald Trump and his family.

“The compromise we had was a good ethics compromise that would have bought a lot of Dem votes,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a key Democratic negotiator, before the vote.

Gallego charged Republicans with caring “more about making sure the president keeps making money than actually bringing regulations,” and consequently “failing the whole system.”

Proposed crypto oversight framework

The Clarity Act would establish a framework for crypto, divide oversight between the Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, set registration requirements and strengthen anti-money-laundering protections.

Advancing the measure would only have opened the way for Senate debate and consideration. The bill would still have needed to survive further Senate negotiations and votes, clear the House and reach President Trump’s desk.

Executives and investors say legislation would provide certainty and help attract long-term capital. Outside Congress, the SEC has proposed allowing startups to sell as much as $75 million of tokens without registering, while the CFTC recently approved the first bitcoin perpetual futures in the U.S.

Election calendar narrows legislative window

The failed vote likely means the crypto industry will have to wait until next year for clearer rules. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., the industry’s top champion in the Senate, told reporters earlier Tuesday that “it’s over” if the procedural vote failed.

The midterm election in seven weeks further complicates another attempt to bring up the bill. Senators are scheduled to leave Washington in early October and return after the election, while the House is set to recess at the end of this week.

The vote could also pave the way for Fairshake, a crypto political action committee, to donate to candidates running against senators who voted to block the Clarity Act.