XRP sinks 10% as the Clarity Act fails and bitcoin slides toward $76,000

By CoinDesk03:38 (UTC), 16 September 2026 Updated

XRP dropped nearly 10% to $1.30 as of Asian morning hours Wednesday, the worst performance among the majors, after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act, according to CoinDesk data.

Ether was next hardest hit at nearly 5% lower to about $2,410, with solana down 5% to just above $97 and dogecoin down nearly 5%. Zcash and hyperliquid's HYPE each fell close to 4%, and bitcoin slipped nearly 3% to just above $76,000. BNB and tron were the mildest at about 1% each.

The bill went down on a 49-50 cloture vote, the procedural step that needs 60 senators to move legislation to debate, with multiple Republicans voting no.

Negotiators had produced more than 600 pages of compromise text, and the provision that broke it was ethics language meant to stop senior government officials from keeping crypto business interests.

Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said she voted no because "the ethics provisions in this bill are simply too thin," pointing to President Donald Trump, his children and his Cabinet earning money in crypto.

She also said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission lacks the staffing to implement the law, and that the bill left gaps on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Crypto equities took it harder than the tokens. Coinbase fell nearly 9% to $174.42 and Circle dropped more than 9% to $88.26, with Galaxy Digital down 8% and Gemini 7%. Bullish and Riot Platforms each lost 5%, eToro 4%, and Robinhood, MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN and Core Scientific fell between 3% and 4%.

Attention now moves to the regulators the bill was meant to bind.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is already working on its proposed Reg Crypto framework and rules for tokenized securities, which becomes the only route to the certainty the industry wanted from Congress.

Industry political action committees including Fairshake have to decide how to treat the senators who voted no before the Nov. 3 election, and a new Congress convenes in January 2027.

The Federal Reserve decides on rates later Wednesday with traders leaning toward a quarter-point hike, with it landing on a market that has just watched its legislative bid collapse and is already selling risk.