The Senate's failure to advance the CLARITY Act is not expected to halt efforts to build a regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S., with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission set to remain central to that work.

Eleanor Terrett, host of Crypto in America, said on September 15 that former CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo called the Senate's failure to pass the CLARITY Act disappointing, but said it would not stop the "march of innovation" in the U.S.

Giancarlo underscored the roles of the SEC and CFTC after the legislative effort in Congress fell short. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig, he said, are firmly committed to carrying out their mandates and establishing a sound regulatory framework.

He added that such a framework would ensure financial innovation, market modernization and economic growth take place within the bounds of U.S. law, not outside them.

The CLARITY Act previously failed to secure the 60 votes needed in a procedural Senate vote. In the digital-asset industry, that has strengthened the view that rulemaking under the SEC's and CFTC's existing authority will remain the main path forward for the time being, as congressional market-structure legislation is delayed.