Bitcoin, Ether Longs Lose $380 Million After Senate CLARITY Act Vote Fails

TLDR

• Crypto exchanges liquidated about $571 million in bullish futures positions over 24 hours after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act.
• Bitcoin and Ether longs each lost roughly $190 million in forced closures.
• The Senate cloture vote failed 49-50 on September 15, falling 11 votes short of the 60 needed.
• Bitcoin traded near $75,834, down 2% over 24 hours, after nearing $80,000 before the vote.
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the SEC and CFTC can keep writing crypto rules without new legislation.

The U.S. Senate failed to advance a crypto market structure bill on September 15, triggering a wave of forced selling across digital asset markets.

Crypto exchanges liquidated roughly $571 million in long positions over the following 24 hours, according to data from CoinGlass cited by CoinDesk.

Bitcoin and Ether longs took the biggest hits, each losing close to $190 million as leveraged bets were force-closed.

XRP longs lost around $30 million, while Solana long liquidations totaled about $22 million during the same window.

Short positions made up a much smaller share of the total, accounting for roughly $100 million in liquidations.

How the Liquidations Happened

Futures positions get force-closed when price swings create losses large enough to push a trader’s collateral below what an exchange requires.

Traders can add more collateral to keep a position open, but if they don’t, the exchange closes it automatically.

Many traders had bet on a bill passing. Bitcoin had climbed from around $77,000 on Monday toward $80,000 earlier in the week as investors watched the negotiations play out.

Bitcoin Price on CoinGecko

Analysts had also flagged Ether and some DeFi tokens as assets that could benefit if the legislation moved forward.

What Happened in the Senate

The bill in question, H.R. 3633, known as the CLARITY Act, needed 60 votes to end debate and move to a final vote.

The cloture motion failed 49-50 on September 15, leaving the measure 11 votes short of that threshold.

Republican Senators Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis voted against cloture. Democratic Senator Chris Coons did not vote.

Reuters reported that Tillis switched his vote to no as a procedural step, which preserves his option to bring the bill back for reconsideration later.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott framed the vote as part of ongoing negotiations over digital asset rules. Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren urged a no vote, pointing to concerns about ethics provisions, national security and economic stability.

Disputes over the bill centered on ethics rules, stablecoin rewards, DeFi provisions and anti-money-laundering safeguards. The vote was procedural and not a final vote on passage.

Bitcoin’s rally began reversing before the final tally as expectations for a successful vote weakened.

Reuters reported a sharper intraday drop as the outcome became clear, with Bitcoin falling more than 5% at one point. Shares of Coinbase and Circle fell as much as 10% during Tuesday’s session.

By Wednesday’s early session, Bitcoin traded near $75,834, down 2% over 24 hours, with a trading range between roughly $75,038 and $77,703. Ether traded near $2,483, down about 1.5%.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the outcome a disappointment. He said the SEC and CFTC already have the tools to write clear crypto rules under existing authority.

Regulators had already been working on rules before the vote. The SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18, a rule package covering certain crypto investment contracts with exemptions for smaller offerings.

The SEC and CFTC made Project Crypto a joint effort in January 2026 to coordinate oversight of digital asset markets. The public comment period on the SEC’s proposal is set to stay open for 60 days after it’s published in the Federal Register.

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