The crypto market continued its rally after the CLARITY Act, a U.S. digital-asset market-structure bill, stalled in the Senate, defying expectations that the setback would pressure prices. Since the September 15 procedural vote, Bitcoin has risen about 11% and Ether about 12%, while total crypto market capitalization increased about 11% to roughly $2.95 trillion from $2.65 trillion. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, said the bill’s failure denied the industry long-term federal regulatory clarity but also avoided provisions that could have constrained growth. Those provisions included restrictions on rewards paid on stablecoin balances and a nationwide licensing regime that might have lowered entry barriers for new market participants while creating constraints for firms combining exchange and brokerage services. The SEC (U.S. securities regulator) subsequently introduced a five-year innovation exemption for limited trading of tokenized U.S. stocks on on-chain platforms and issued guidance on token buybacks. Hougan said the industry obtained better rules faster, but at the cost of longer-term certainty because the current framework depends on regulatory agencies and could change under a future administration.