XRP led losses across major cryptocurrencies on Wednesday after the U.S. Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act, while bitcoin extended its decline toward $76,000.
XRP fell nearly 10% to $1.30 during Asian morning trading, marking the weakest performance among the largest tokens, according to CoinDesk data. The broader market also turned lower following the Senate’s 49-50 procedural vote on the crypto market structure bill.
Ether declined almost 5% to roughly $2,410, while Solana slipped 5% to just above $97. Dogecoin also lost close to 5%. Zcash and Hyperliquid’s HYPE declined by about 4% each.
Bitcoin was down nearly 3% at slightly above $76,000. BNB and Tron recorded smaller declines of approximately 1% apiece.
Senate Blocks Clarity Act Advance
The legislation failed to clear a cloture vote by a 49-50 margin. The procedural step required 60 votes to allow the bill to proceed to debate, with several Republicans voting against it.
The measure followed negotiations involving more than 600 pages of compromise language. Ethics rules became a key point of disagreement, particularly provisions intended to prevent senior government officials from retaining crypto-related financial interests.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said the bill’s ethics provisions were not strong enough to secure her support. She pointed to President Donald Trump, his children and members of his Cabinet, citing their financial involvement in the crypto sector.
Slotkin also questioned whether the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sufficient staff to carry out the legislation. In addition, she said the proposal left unresolved issues surrounding money laundering and terrorist financing.
Crypto Stocks Extend Losses
The reaction was even more pronounced among publicly traded crypto companies.
Coinbase shares dropped nearly 9% to $174.42, while Circle declined more than 9% to $88.26. Galaxy Digital fell 8%, and Gemini dropped 7%.
Bullish and Riot Platforms each lost 5%, while eToro declined 4%. Robinhood, MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN and Core Scientific were down between 3% and 4%.
SEC and CFTC Move Into Focus
The Senate setback leaves regulators at the center of the industry’s efforts to obtain clearer rules.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is developing its proposed Reg Crypto framework and working on rules covering tokenized securities. Those initiatives now represent an important avenue for regulatory clarity outside the legislative process.
Industry political action committees, including Fairshake, must also consider how to respond to senators who opposed the legislation ahead of the Nov. 3 election. A new Congress is scheduled to take office in January 2027.
Fed Rate Decision Ahead
The Federal Reserve is due to announce its interest-rate decision later Wednesday, with traders currently leaning toward a quarter-point increase.
The policy decision arrives as crypto assets are already under pressure following the Senate vote, giving markets two major developments to assess at the same time: the stalled push for new digital-asset legislation and the Fed’s latest monetary-policy decision.
