September 29, 2026

Bitcoin dipped under $75,000 when the Senate shut down the CLARITY Act on September 15, 2026. Just a week later, it climbed back over $86,000. Now that Congress has stepped out of the way, regulators are steering Washington’s crypto strategy, and you can bet the market’s watching every move.

On September 15, 2026, the U.S. Senate voted 49 to 50 against advancing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, called the CLARITY Act, according to public records on the vote from the Senate. It needed 60 votes to move forward but fell short, and senators never even debated the bill itself. That killed off the last shot at passing a comprehensive crypto law before the November midterms.

Traders wasted no time reacting, but the fallout stayed pretty contained. According to Binance, the crypto exchange with one of the largest global trading volumes, current crypto prices, the total crypto market cap sat at $2.8 trillion on September 29, 2026. Bitcoin itself accounted for 58.6% of that number.

How have crypto prices moved since Trump returned to the White House?

Bitcoin is trading below its inauguration day peak, despite bouncing back hard in September. On January 20, 2025, just before Trump took office, the coin ripped past $109,000, according to Cointelegraph. By the morning of September 29, 2026, it had dropped to $83,451.69, according to data from Binance.

The path in between? Anything but easy. Bitcoin hit a fresh all-time high in October 2025, but then a rough 2026 knocked it down to around $75,000 in September, according to 24/7 Wall St.

What crypto-friendly policies has Trump put in place?

Trump has rolled out executive orders, backed a federal stablecoin law and nudged agencies toward more supportive rules. In his first week in office, he signed an order backing the responsible growth of digital assets and blocking a central bank digital currency, according to a published article on the White House’s website. On March 6, 2025, he set up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded with confiscated coins, as per the executive order.

July 2025 brought the GENIUS Act, America’s first federal law for stablecoins, according to the public bill as per Congress. Then in August 2025, he issued an order to let retirement savers put Bitcoin ETFs and other assets into their 401(k)s, as per a fact sheet from the White House’s website. Fast forward to March 17, 2026, and the SEC and CFTC jointly classified eighteen assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP, as digital commodities, as per the official document from the Federal Register.

What has Trump said about crypto?

Trump keeps pitching crypto as a U.S. national priority and as a race to beat China. He’s promised, over and over, to make America the “crypto capital of the planet”, according to the White House’s Crypto page on their website.

At a White House event in August 2026, with industry leaders and regulators looking on, he said the CLARITY Act would “keep the U.S. ahead of China”, reported by the Washington Post. Right before the Senate vote, he even agreed to new ethics rules and state attorney general enforcement to try and win some Democratic votes, as per CNBC. But none of them budged.

How are these policy changes creating business opportunities?

Friendlier rules are opening the door to a wave of new products, everything from stablecoins to tokenized stocks. Just look at September 17, 2026: The SEC rolled out its Innovation Exemption, giving trading venues a five-year window to trade tokenized versions of U.S.-listed stocks without needing to register as exchanges, according to a press release by the SEC.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins called it a “bridge toward durable rulemaking”, according to a speech by Atkins, published by the SEC. On the same day, the CFTC loosened up broker registration rules for passive software providers, according to a press release by the CFTC. This means startups and big firms alike get a real chance to build new stuff without waiting for Congress to catch up.

What did the September 15 Senate vote mean for crypto prices?

The vote kicked off a sharp but short-lived sell-off, hitting smaller coins even harder than Bitcoin. Bitcoin fell below $75,000, and $771 million in positions liquidated in just 24 hours. Ether dropped about 5%, down near $2,400, and XRP slumped further, according to reports by Binance.

The bill got stuck over presidential ethics and worries about bank deposits, not over securities rules. Republican Senators Collins, Hawley, Moran and Tillis all voted no with the Democrats, according to Reuters.

FAQ

Is the CLARITY Act dead for good?

Not officially. Senator Thom Tillis filed a motion to reconsider, but analysts don’t see sweeping legislation before 2027 at the earliest.

Who oversees crypto in the U.S. right now?

The SEC and CFTC call the shots through rules and exemptions. The GENIUS Act is the only crypto-specific law on the books, and that just covers stablecoins.

What could move prices next?

As crypto is being used in various industries, factors such as inflation, jobs data and Treasury yields could impact the prices.

Author: Pam Brown

Pam Brown is a journalist with exceptional analytical skills and a strong interest in modern financial systems. She specialises in translating complex topics like crypto, loans, and forex into clear, accessible content. Pam’s precise, research-driven writing has made her a trusted voice in the financial and fintech space.