On Sept. 15, the Senate rejected the Clarity Act, with 49 voting yes and 50 voting no, falling short of the 60 required to move forward. That setback greatly diminished the odds of passage this year, pushing regulators into taking over where the law left off. Crypto dealmaking has not paused while waiting for a national settlement — it has kept advancing through the SEC and the CFTC instead.
The Senate Vote
The vote produced 49 votes in favor and 50 against, falling short of the required 60. This setback has greatly diminished the likelihood of passage this year.
Deal Value Hits Record High
CryptoRank Research found that mergers and acquisitions hit a record $9.7 billion in disclosed deal value during the first half of 2026, up 44% from the previous year. The count of announced acquisitions dropped 8% year over year to 87. The four biggest deals made up 76% of the disclosed value.
Recent Deals
Payward, which owns Kraken, struck two deals at once: it bought payments firm Reap for $600 million and also arranged to take over derivatives platform Bitnomial for as much as $550 million. Nasdaq joined the arrangement by putting in $100 million toward Payward while building a wider business tie-up with it.
Regulatory Relief
On Oct. 1, two days after the Senate vote, the SEC approved a temporary “Innovation Exemption” permitting limited trading of tokenized U.S. stocks on specific onchain venues. That same day, the SEC also proposed a new rule to clarify how investment firms can manage and hold customer crypto assets. The CFTC has since removed some regulatory barriers, offering relief to certain software providers and updating guidance on tokenized investments and blockchain-based recordkeeping.
What the Industry Says
Paul McCaffery, head of digital assets at investment bank KBW, said: “The Clarity Act’s setback doesn’t change the trajectory.” McCaffery argued: “Congress isn’t the only game in town… The SEC and CFTC are already moving proactively to provide the regulatory certainty markets need, and that’s unlocking a wave of M&A across digital assets, traditional financial services, and fintech alike.”
Todd White, partner at Architect Partners, sees regulatory action outside Congress driving ongoing activity, with tokenization being a particular focus. Dmitriy Berenzon, partner at venture firm Archetype, said: “Clearer legal framework would absolutely result in more deals, more partnerships permeating across financial services and beyond, and ultimately more economic prosperity for both citizens in the U.S. as well as abroad.” He added: “We have already seen how much of a positive impact the GENIUS Act has had on stablecoin adoption, so the more clear and informed the rulemaking, the better.”
Jake Brukhman, founder and CEO of CoinFund, has said that “Failure of Clarity does not create a new drag so much as preserve the regulatory uncertainty already weighing on the sector.”.
The Shift Toward Regulators
Instead of Congress stepping in to fill the gap, the SEC and CFTC are doing so themselves after the Clarity Act’s failure. This arrangement helps firms that already work inside established rules at the expense of startups still waiting for a national response.
| Party | Position |
|---|---|
| Senate vote | 49 votes in favor, 50 against |
| Deal value | $9.7 billion in disclosed deal value |
| Announced acquisitions | 87, down 8% year over year |
| Largest deals share | 76% of disclosed value |
Key Numbers
- Senate vote: 49 votes in favor, 50 against
- Deal value: $9.7 billion in disclosed deal value
- Deal value growth: up 44% from a year earlier
- Announced acquisitions: 87, down 8% year over year
- Largest deals share: 76% of disclosed value
- Reap purchase: $600 million
- Bitnomial purchase: up to $550 million
- Nasdaq investment: $100 million
Though the Clarity Act faces an actual setback, the drive behind it persists. Both the SEC and CFTC are acting ahead of time to offer the certainty that market participants need, and this has unleashed a surge of mergers and acquisitions across digital assets, traditional financial services, and fintech.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs disclosure requirements on hidden safety failures and narrow rules against direct harm, and is against federal licensing, pauses, broad new rulebooks, and rules written with help from the biggest firms. The Senate’s rejection of the Clarity Act was a setback, but the SEC and CFTC have moved quickly to fill the gap themselves, and that arrangement favors firms that already operate inside established rules at the expense of startups still waiting for a national response.
The record deal value, the Innovation Exemption, and the proposed new rule all show the regulators moving ahead without waiting for Congress. That is exactly the dynamic the paper warns against: big firms working through existing channels while smaller ones wait for clarity that never comes.
The paper would prefer narrow, targeted oversight aimed at real harm, not broad rulebooks that let the biggest firms shape the terms. The reader should watch for the same pattern elsewhere: whenever a law fails, the biggest firms find ways to keep operating while the little ones wait.
Source material: “The Clarity Act stalled. Bankers aren’t hitting the brakes yet on crypto dealmaking,” CoinDesk.
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