XRP sinks 10% as the Clarity Act fails and bitcoin slides toward $76,000
The Senate’s 49-50 procedural vote left the crypto market structure bill 11 short of what it needed, and every major token fell.
- XRP fell nearly 10% to $1.30, leading a broad cryptocurrency sell-off after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a 49-50 procedural vote.
- The bill was derailed by disputes over ethics safeguards, regulatory staffing and provisions addressing money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Crypto stocks suffered steeper losses than major tokens as attention shifted to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory efforts and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision.
Crypto equities took it harder than the tokens. Coinbase fell nearly 9% to $174.42 and Circle dropped more than 9% to $88.26, with Galaxy Digital down 8% and Gemini 7%. Bullish and Riot Platforms each lost 5%, eToro 4%, and Robinhood, MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN and Core Scientific fell between 3% and 4%.
Attention now moves to the regulators the bill was meant to bind.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is already working on its proposed Reg Crypto framework and rules for tokenized securities, which becomes the only route to the certainty the industry wanted from Congress.
Industry political action committees including Fairshake have to decide how to treat the senators who voted no before the Nov. 3 election, and a new Congress convenes in January 2027.
The Federal Reserve decides on rates later Wednesday with traders leaning toward a quarter-point hike, with it landing on a market that has just watched its legislative bid collapse and is already selling risk.
Read More: Inside the last-minute political breakdown that doomed the Clarity Act vote
