The Clarity Act, a bill intended to establish a lasting U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets, failed a procedural Senate vote on Sept. 15, drawing 49 votes in favor and 50 against, short of the 60 needed to advance. The bill's defeat centered on disagreements over ethics restrictions on senior officials' crypto business interests and concerns about investor protection and illicit finance.
The failure reduced the likelihood of passage this year and left the crypto industry relying on regulatory agencies rather than congressional action to clarify which digital assets fall under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Despite the legislative setback, bankers and investors told CoinDesk that crypto dealmaking is not expected to slow significantly. Instead, they anticipate an uneven effect, with deals in areas where regulators have already provided clearer rules continuing to advance, while businesses exposed to unresolved regulatory questions remaining harder to acquire.
The SEC has continued moving forward with regulatory measures. Two days after the Senate vote, the agency approved a temporary "Innovation Exemption" allowing limited trading of tokenized U.S. stocks on certain onchain venues. On Oct. 1, the SEC proposed a new rule clarifying how investment firms can handle and keep customer crypto assets. The CFTC has also been removing regulatory barriers, including providing relief to certain software providers and updating guidance on tokenized investments and blockchain-based recordkeeping.
Digital asset sector dealmaking reached $9.7 billion in disclosed deal value in the first half of 2026, up 44% from a year earlier, according to CryptoRank Research. However, the number of announced acquisitions fell 8% year over year to 87, with the four largest deals accounting for 76% of disclosed value.
Major transactions include Payward, Kraken's parent company, agreeing to acquire payments company Reap for $600 million and derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million. Nasdaq also agreed to invest $100 million in Payward alongside an expanded commercial partnership.
Some observers argue that legislative clarity would have broader impact. Venture partners noted that a clearer legal framework would likely result in more deals across financial services, particularly for token-centric companies and pre-token financings. Deal activity has already concentrated in categories where the SEC and CFTC have de-risked through guidance and joint efforts, including exchange infrastructure, spot trading, and tokenized collateral.
