The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (or CLARITY Act) was supposed to usher in a new era for the crypto industry. It was going to give them special treatment to skirt securities regulation, and enshrine that special treatment in statute. It was going to bring the appearance of legitimacy that only an official regulatory framework can bring to an industry inundated with fraudsters, sanction evaders, and terrorists. If the bill passed, it was absolutely going to be worth the staggering $206 million the industry has spent on the midterms so far, more than any other corporate interest, on top of the $133 million spent on congressional races the last time around.

Except it didn’t happen. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats and a small…