The inability of the U.S. Senate to push forward the Clarity Act on Tuesday leaves the digital asset sector in the premier global economy without a comprehensive nationwide structure, while keeping the specific responsibilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission unclear.
This lack of regulatory certainty carries immediate consequences. The fast reaction impacted infrastructure providers focused on the U.S., causing publicly traded entities such as cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Global (COIN) and stablecoin creator Circle Internet (CRCL) to drop by 10% in the wake of the ballot.
Domestic retail participants are left without access to a transparent, supervised marketplace. Local institutional entities miss the predictability required to deploy capital at scale. The nation collectively falls behind in what is transforming into a global jurisdictional contest to establish the world’s primary digital asset center.
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“The practical reality is that capital and talent move toward environments where the rules are clearest,” said Lin Han, CEO and founder of crypto exchange Gate.
Han, whose trading platform primarily targets Asia and sits at number five on CoinGecko, noted that the near-term beneficiaries will likely be digital asset businesses holding licenses in foreign regulated jurisdictions. Even so, he added that this American regulatory vacuum harms the broader sector regardless of where individual crypto companies are headquartered.
The Senate deadlock places the United States alongside the United Kingdom—whose comprehensive regulations will not take effect until next year—among the few major global financial centers lacking explicit guidelines for the industry. Meanwhile, the European Union approved its Markets in Crypto Asset framework, which took full effect in July of 2023, and Asian markets continue developing their digital asset frameworks.
“The true losers are the American public and the domestic tech ecosystem,” stated Stefan Muehlbauer, who leads U.S. government affairs at blockchain security firm CertiK. He explained that the winners comprise overseas digital asset hubs, grey-market participants, and international territories across Asia and Europe that rapidly expand their market footprint under definitive, established regulations.
Although the SEC and CFTC retain the ability to issue independent rules—highlighted Thursday when the SEC introduced an “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities venues—to offer domestic businesses a way forward, Muehlbauer emphasized that administrative actions cannot replace formal legislation. Solid laws remain especially vital for enterprises evaluating long-term investments, product launches, and compliance expenses over multi-year horizons.
Gracy Chen, CEO of the Bitget exchange, adopted a more conservative perspective regarding whether this legislative outcome will shift market activity toward Asia.
“I wouldn’t look at it as volume suddenly moving from the U.S. to Asia because of one vote,” she explained. “Crypto is inherently a global market, and traders will continue to go where they can find the products, liquidity and access they need.”
Chen noted that the decision prolongs ambiguity surrounding U.S. market structures and the legal treatment of digital assets. However, she affirmed that Bitget’s strategy to enter the country using appropriate licenses and structures does not rely on the passage of the bill.
For Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, the rejected ballot represents a minor speed bump rather than a permanent barrier.
“It would have been better if it had passed,” Hougan remarked. “With it failing, I think the road ahead is bumpier. But the trend is still good, and I don’t think it’s changed too much from where it was Monday, before the vote.” He observed that President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration still has two and a half years remaining, leaving ample room for developments.
Hougan indicated he does not anticipate the outcome will deter investors from evaluating smaller digital tokens featuring robust tokenomics and real-world asset connections.
Tom Farley, CEO of CoinDesk parent company Bullish, likewise noted that the legislative setback is not an insurmountable obstacle.
“Durable legislation would give the digital asset industry greater certainty. But even with legislation, the real work of implementation happens at the agencies, and agencies can move faster,” he stated in a post on X. He added that regulatory rule-making by the SEC and CFTC could prove more impactful in the short term for tokenized securities, affecting how issuers, transfer agents, and issuer-sponsored tokens are handled.
Nilmini Rubin, chief policy officer at Hedera, expressed that the vote does not conclude the legislative push. “We’ve seen policymakers put real time and effort into studying the underlying technology, which is a positive step in the right direction,” she said. “I think most of the industry is still as ambitious as ever that we’ll get to where we need to be.”
Nevertheless, Rubin cautioned that U.S. competitiveness stays threatened as long as the market operates without explicit rules.
“The largest loser is U.S. competitiveness because uncertainty pushes innovation and adoption in the U.S. behind other countries,” she stated. “The longer the market lacks clear rules, the more difficult it is to ensure the United States remains at the center of this system, rather than on the margins of it.”
She observed that stablecoins, tokenization, and cross-border payment rails will continue expanding regardless of the legislative outcome, whereas American consumers will remain harder to safeguard without a statutory framework.
Yet, optimism persists on the horizon within the United States. Numerous digital asset executives believe that the SEC and CFTC will fulfill their commitments to establish clear guidelines.
Or, as American attorney Richard B. Levin, who chairs FinTech and regulation at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, summarized during a panel at the 2026 European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona:
“You can count on Americans to do it absolutely wrong until they finally get it right.”
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/17/crypto-industry-leaders-debate-who-the-winners-and-losers-of-the-clarity-act-vote-failure-are.
