Bitcoin slid to roughly $77,400 on Tuesday, down about 3% from an overnight high near $79,530, as the Senate held a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the agency's Project Crypto rulemaking will keep moving regardless of the vote's outcome, even as Senate Democrats pushed a late counterproposal over the bill's ethics language.
Bitcoin traded at about $77,400 during European morning hours Tuesday, unchanged over 24 hours but down roughly 3% from the $79,530 it touched overnight, according to CoinDesk data. The pullback came hours before the Senate's cloture vote on the CLARITY Act, the bill that would split digital-asset oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Senate vote needs 60 to advance
The cloture vote requires 60 votes to proceed, and Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, so at least seven Democrats must cross over. A yes vote opens debate rather than passing the bill outright.
Brian Vieten, senior research analyst at Siebert Financial, told CoinDesk that traders are overweighting the outcome: "We think the market is a bit too focused on whether Clarity passes". He said a failed vote would leave firms operating under the current SEC and CFTC approach, which could push product launches and tokenization work into 2027 and 2028 rather than shelving them.
Democrats push a late counterproposal
Senate Democrats sent Republicans a counterproposal late Monday after reviewing the newest Republican draft released a day earlier, ahead of Tuesday afternoon's vote. Much of the disagreement centers on revised ethics language, including a provision involving the Office of Government Ethics that could let senior officials keep existing crypto business ties.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis said Monday that Democrats were still seeking concessions but maintained the bill was ready to move to a vote. She noted Democrats had already secured more than 100 changes to the text, including self-custody protections and retail-investor offices.
SEC chair says rulemaking continues either way
SEC Chair Paul Atkins used a Sept. 14 keynote at the Solana Policy Institute summit to back the cloture vote while confirming Project Crypto rulemaking will keep moving regardless of the Senate outcome. He detailed three tracks: a Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, updated transfer-agent rules last revised roughly 40 years ago, and a proposal letting investment advisers self-custody crypto where no qualified third-party custodian exists; he also opened a path for state trust companies to act as custodians. Banking groups and New York state attorneys general have filed formal opposition to the bill.
Sources: CoinDesk, CryptoPotato, CoinGape
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