Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan identified four sectors that benefited from the failure of the CLARITY Act. In a memo dated September 30, he highlighted stablecoins, exchanges, tokenization platforms, and buyback-driven tokens as the primary winners following the bill's rejection in the US Senate on September 15, where it failed to reach the required 60 votes with a 49 to 50 result.
The bill would have prohibited platforms from paying stablecoin yield, carrying penalties of up to $5 million per violation. Without this legislation, the 2025 GENIUS Act remains in effect, which only restricts issuers from paying interest. Hougan noted that Coinbase retains its competitive advantage by using stablecoin rewards to attract users, while exchanges avoid the costs associated with separating exchange and broker services.
Regarding tokenization, the SEC granted a five-year exemption for tokenized US stocks two days after the Senate vote, a move Hougan suggests is faster than the study the bill would have mandated. He identified Securitize as a key beneficiary. Additionally, SEC guidance issued on September 25 clarified that buyback announcements on functional networks do not automatically constitute a security, benefiting tokens like NEAR Protocol.
Since the Senate vote, NEAR Protocol has seen a price increase of 126.62 percent, while Bitcoin and Ethereum rose 10.39 percent and 6.86 percent, respectively. However, Hougan acknowledged that these regulatory gains rely on agency actions that could be reversed by a new administration starting in January 2029 or scrutinized by a new Congress following the November elections.
