Bernstein sees another leg lower for crypto markets if Clarity Act stalls

PolicyBernstein sees another leg lower for crypto markets if Clarity Act stallsThe broker said failure to pass the Clarity Act this year would likely send crypto lower, but expects U.S. regulators to accelerate rulemaking.By Will Canny, AI Boost|Edited by Nikhilesh De Aug 3, 2026, 1:49 p.m. 2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on SummaryShowBernstein said in a note Monday that failure to pass the Clarity Act would likely weigh on bitcoin and crypto markets in the near term.The broker expects the SEC and CFTC to accelerate rulemaking under Project Crypto, even without legislation.Regulatory clarity remains critical for bringing crypto innovation, tokenization and traditional financial institutions onshore.Wall Street broker Bernstein said failure to pass the Clarity Act this year would likely trigger another selloff in crypto markets, but argued U.S. regulators would respond by accelerating rulemaking to provide greater regulatory certainty for the industry.The broker said in a note on Monday that prospects of the legislation passing have deteriorated as the Senate runs out of time before recess despite resolving contentious issues including stablecoin yield rules.“Clarity is the most consequential crypto market structure bill in U.S. history, but the chances of its 2026 passing seems to be dwindling,” wrote analysts led by Gautam Chhugani in the Monday report.A failure to pass the bill would likely prompt an immediate negative reaction across digital assets, the analysts said, although they argued the setback would probably be temporary as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expand rulemaking under President Donald Trump’s administration's Project Crypto initiative.The Clarity Act is widely viewed as the crypto industry's most important piece of U.S. legislation, with supporters arguing it would establish clear rules for digital ass…

Bernstein sees another leg lower for crypto markets if Clarity Act stalls

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