White House says CLARITY Act unlikely to pass in lame-duck session

The CLARITY Act, the market-structure bill that would have created a federal framework for digital assets, failed to advance in the Senate, falling short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle (49-50). Republicans rejected a last-minute Democratic counterproposal, and XRP sank 10% while bitcoin slid toward $76,000 in the immediate market reaction.

The White House has since said the bill is unlikely to pass in the lame-duck session, leaving little near-term legislative path and reinforcing the regulators' go-it-alone stance. The CFTC has sent a new crypto market-structure proposal to the White House, and the SEC has opened a five-year Innovation Exemption pathway for tokenized stock trading. SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the agency will act decisively with or without a bill, while CFTC Chair Michael Selig says it is ready to ship its rules.

• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer had expected passage before year-end; former CFTC Chair Christopher Giancarlo said "the politicians have been playing us," but that institutions are moving in regardless.
• The CFTC has separately warned that prediction contracts tied to a person saying a specific phrase carry heightened manipulation risk.