Coinbase-Backed Group Warns of CLARITY Act Payback in Midterms

Senate Blocks CLARITY Act in Procedural Vote

The Coinbase-backed advocacy group Stand With Crypto has put senators on notice, warning that their votes on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act will carry political consequences heading into November's midterm elections.

The warning came after the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to survive a U.S. Senate procedural vote on Tuesday, with a 49-50 count falling far short of the 60 supporters required to advance. All Democrats voted against the bill, joined by four Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

The bill died on the same fight that had stalled it for months: ethics. Democrats had demanded an enforceable ban on the president and senior officials profiting from crypto while setting its rules, a demand sharpened by President Trump's disclosure of more than $1.4 billion in crypto income for 2025. Republican leaders had released a revised version of the bill over the weekend, adding new ethics restrictions to address Democratic concerns, but those changes were not enough to resolve the remaining opposition.

Stand With Crypto Vows Electoral Consequences

Stand With Crypto warned of electoral consequences after the vote and said it would add senators' votes to its lawmaker scorecards ahead of November's midterms. Executive director Mason Lynaugh called the result "a failure of leadership," arguing that 67 million crypto-owning Americans had waited years for the regulatory clarity needed to use, build, and invest in digital assets safely.

The group said its supporters called or emailed Congress nearly 50,000 times in August, while organizing local events and placing opinion pieces in newspapers, with the campaign targeting senators in their home states during the congressional recess.

Stand With Crypto said it had scored senators' votes and would incorporate them into its public ratings, which track lawmakers' positions on crypto policy. It also pointed to its endorsements of incumbent House candidates as it prepares for the midterms.

The defeat, given the compressed legislative calendar before the November midterms, effectively ends the bill's prospects for 2026. While the loss is a blow for digital asset advocates, the congressional session did see a major earlier win when the GENIUS Act earned bipartisan approval and became law in 2025. Though executives and investors say legislation would lend certainty and help attract long-term capital, much of the industry has resigned itself to the likelihood that regulatory momentum may have to be built outside of Congress.

Sources:
FinanceFeeds: U.S. Senate Failed to Advance the CLARITY Act
Decrypt: Coinbase-Backed Crypto Group Warns of Midterms Payback After Clarity Act Fails
CNBC: Senate Cloture Vote on Clarity Act Fails