CLARITY Act Failed, But Bitwise Still Sees The Crypto Bull Market

Senate Rejects CLARITY Act in Narrow Cloture Vote

The U.S. Senate dealt a significant blow to the crypto industry on September 15, when the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to clear a key procedural hurdle. The bill received only 49 votes in favor, well short of the 60 needed to advance. Those voting against it included all Democrats and four Republicans: Senators Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran, and Thom Tillis.

The CLARITY Act would have formally split oversight of the crypto sector across the SEC and CFTC, with the CFTC potentially playing a larger regulatory role. The procedural vote leaves the bill stalled after months of negotiations, during which Republican leaders had released a revised version adding new ethics restrictions to address Democratic concerns about public officials profiting from crypto ventures. Those changes were not enough to resolve remaining opposition.

Hougan: Legislative Setback Does Not Change the Bull Market Thesis

Despite the Senate failure, Bitwise CIO @Matt_Hougan is not changing his outlook. Hougan has argued throughout 2026 that regulatory progress, while helpful, is not a prerequisite for crypto's next major move higher. He has said regulatory clarity in Washington could accelerate the next bull phase, but is not required for crypto's long-term trajectory, and that even without it, ETFs, stablecoins, and tokenization will keep expanding.

That view is supported by $BTC's price action. Bitcoin climbed from around $57,950 in July to above $80,000 by early September, even as the CLARITY Act's odds of passing weakened. Hougan has pointed to five structural factors underpinning the bull case in 2026: regulatory progress, stablecoins scaling, the rise of tokenization, assets with real revenue and buybacks, and a debasement bid.

Crypto's next bull market is likely to be slower and less volatile, according to Hougan, because Wall Street is shifting attention from pure digital assets to real-world applications like tokenization and artificial intelligence. Despite bitcoin's price being down significantly this year and still well below its record high, interest from investment advisers and institutional-focused firms remains strong.

In the absence of market structure law, industry observers expect close attention to shift toward federal regulators, including the SEC and CFTC, that are already at work on crypto rules. For Hougan and Bitwise, the legislative setback is a delay, not a derailment.

Sources:
NPR: Crypto suffers major defeat as Senate rejects Clarity Act
CNBC: Senate cloture vote on Clarity Act fails
Bitcoin.com: Bitwise CIO Sees Crypto Bull Case Strengthening on 5 Key Shifts