The cryptocurrency stock market experienced a sharp sell-off on January 15, 2026, following the abrupt cancellation of a key U.S. Senate vote on crypto market structure legislation. The panic was triggered after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly stated the exchange could not support the bill "as written," calling it "materially worse than the current status quo" and expressing a preference for no bill over a bad one. Hours later, the Senate Banking Committee pulled the legislation from its schedule.
The impact was immediate and severe across crypto-related equities. Circle (CRCL) stock led the declines, plummeting 9.67% to $76.60 with $1.2 billion in volume. Robinhood (HOOD) dropped 7.78% to $110.36, while Coinbase (COIN) sank 6.49% to $239.26 on $83.4 million in trades. In total, more than $20 billion in market value evaporated from these major names alone.
The sell-off extended throughout the sector. Mining stocks were hit hard, with Exodus dropping 11.09%, Bitmine losing 5.48%, CleanSpark down 4.42%, and Riot Platforms falling 4.33%. Other firms like MARA, Bitfarms, Bullish, and Canaan saw declines between 3% and 6%. The downturn contrasted sharply with broader market indices, as the Dow Jones closed up 292 points.
The canceled bill was a significant piece of legislation that sought to define when digital assets are securities or commodities and would have granted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more authority over spot crypto markets. For companies like Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, clearer regulation was seen as a way to reduce long-term uncertainty. The bill also contained specific provisions affecting stablecoins, including a ban on paying interest simply for holding them while still allowing rewards tied to transactional activity.
This regulatory setback overshadowed a prior technical warning for Circle stock. Before the news, analyst Ali Charts had warned that CRCL was forming a bearish flag pattern on price charts, with a potential downside target near $46.25. The stock had closed the previous session at $84.80, up 1.61%, buoyed by a rising crypto market where Bitcoin had recently jumped from $90,000 to a two-month high.
