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Clarity Act stalls
The Senate is nearing movement on landmark cryptocurrency legislation known as the Clarity Act, but Senate Democrats and Republicans are still divided over ethics provisions and timing as the chamber heads toward an August recess.
Fox News reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, "I don’t think we’ll be able to get it done, but I would like to at least get Clarity started," while Fortune said Thune told reporters he did not expect the Senate to pass the bill before the body adjourns for its August recess.
Fortune tied the delay to politics around President Donald Trump’s crypto connections, saying Democrats have sought ethical provisions to limit deals and that the formal legislative process is "on ice."
Fox News said the ethics provisions are embedded in a "over 600-page" package and that the restrictions include preventing federal officials from creating their own digital currency for profit, promoting or endorsing crypto, and allowing officials to own crypto and a disclosure of crypto sales.
Fox News also said Trump’s income between 2024 and 2025 erupted by about 250%, from just over $620 million to about $2.2 billion, with much of the increase attributed to holdings and ventures in crypto run by Don Jr. and Eric.
Ethics fight and quotes
Democrats argued the ethics language does not go far enough to stop what they view as profit-driven conflicts, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren telling Fox News, "if it doesn't stop the president from profiting off of crypto, and using it as a way to take bribes right out in public."
Fox News said Sen. Cory Booker told Fox News Digital that he still has "a lot of ethics concerns, and there’s still work to do," while Cointelegraph quoted Sen. Ruben Gallego saying, "Whatever piece of s--- they sent back to us, that was not a serious effort."
Cointelegraph reported that the CLARITY Act needs 60 votes to pass in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 52-47 majority over Democrats, and it framed the ethics provisions as barring public officials from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies.
Fox News described a dispute over whether the ethics provisions target Trump’s family, noting Democrats have noted the provisions don’t specifically target his sons and that sole enforcement power is put into the hands of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Cointelegraph added that crypto advocacy groups support passage as ethics rules face pushback, while Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a Wednesday X post that "There’s no federal framework, so bad actors like FTX can harm US customers" and that the bill fixes that with consumer protections and law-enforcement tools.
What’s at stake next
The CLARITY Act’s fate is tied to whether lawmakers can secure enough support before the Senate breaks in August, with Cointelegraph reporting Kalshi event contracts showing a 40.3% chance that the bill would pass before the Senate’s August recess.
Fortune said the politics surrounding impending mid-term elections could doom the bill’s chances, while it also noted that the outgoing Congress typically passes bills prior to ending its term in early January.
For crypto supporters, the bill is positioned as a federal framework that would address the absence of a national regulatory structure, and Cointelegraph quoted Orest Gavryliak saying CLARITY would help recognize a framework for non-custodial protocols rather than "regulating with enforcement."
For opponents and skeptics, the stakes include consumer protection, illicit finance, and market integrity, with Cointelegraph reporting that many Democrats said the measures don’t go far enough to prevent corruption.
Even as the ethics debate continues, Fox News said the Clarity Act’s ethics provisions are set to sunset on Jan. 20, 2029, when Trump will have left office, and it reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune hoped to get the Clarity Act on the floor next week but acknowledged that might not be possible.
