Senate blocks crypto bill, 49-50; both Alaska senators vote yes

The U.S. Senate blocked a bill Tuesday that would have set the first federal rules for digital assets, leaving unresolved how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would divide oversight of the market. The procedural vote, Roll Call 234, was a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, and it failed 49-50. It needed 60 votes to advance. One senator did not vote. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan both voted yes. The measure, H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, had already passed the House. It would set SEC and CFTC rules for digital commodities, bar Federal Reserve banks from offering certain products or services directly to individuals, and prohibit use of a central bank digital currency for monetary policy. Anti-CBDC advocates, including the Cato Institute, say a central bank digital currency raises privacy and surveillance risks and back the bill's prohibition on using one for monetary policy. Separate Alaska legislation setting kiosk licensing, transaction limits and fraud protections is advancing after scammers stole more than $26 million from Alaskans in 2024.