Gold advocate and longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff has jumped on the dramatic failure of the CLARITY Act to take another swipe at the world's largest cryptocurrency.
Schiff said that it was "very clear" that Bitcoin is worthless. "No act of Congress is necessary," he snapped in response to a typically bullish comment made by Anthony Pompliano.
As reported by U.Today, the U.S. Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on Tuesday. This was undoubtedly a crushing defeat for the cryptocurrency industry.
Sixty votes were required to advance the legislation to debate. All Democrats who voted opposed moving forward.
Government "feels broken"
On X, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz stated that he was deeply disappointed after roughly 18 months of negotiations. "Govt feels broken," Novogratz wrote.
According to the billionaire, the approaching U.S. elections had shaped lawmakers' calculations, and it was impossible to solve the remaining disagreements.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the Senate result a "disappointment," but he stopped short of treating it as a permanent defeat.
However, not everything is lost. Bipartisan negotiations could theoretically continue, according to Armstrong. The legislation might still "live to fight another day," but such a scenario seems to be extremely unlikely at this point.
At the same time, he is convinced that the cryptocurrency industry could no longer base its regulatory strategy on Congress.
The Coinbase chief argued that the SEC and CFTC already have enough authority to establish clearer cryptocurrency rules.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as CZ, also struck a relatively optimistic tone. "If there is any silver lining, stablecoins (can) continue to have yield," CZ wrote.
Critics celebrate defeat
Apart from Schiff, other notorious cryptocurrency naysayers are also having a field day. Rep. Brad Sherman said he had opposed the CLARITY Act and previous versions of the legislation "from day one."
"Pleased to see a majority of the Senate saw through it today and voted NO," Sherman wrote.
Investor Ross Gerber, who recently turned sour on BTC, described the vote as "another fail for Bitcoin."