Clarity Act Clock Ticks: Trump Mourns Graham, Polymarket Says 24% 🪙

President Donald Trump on Monday urged the U.S. Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act "in honor of" Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died Saturday at age 71 after a brief illness. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Graham was "a big supporter" of the bill and warned that "China, and many other countries, would like to take complete and total control of this major financial 'happening,' as well as A.I., where we are now leading, but where they are fighting hard. Don't let China win on either subject!!!" White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt described this week as critical for the crypto bill.

The chamber has roughly four weeks in session before a month-long state work period that begins August 8, leaving lawmakers a narrow window to clear the legislation. The bill cleared the House 294-134 in July 2025 and later passed the Senate Banking Committee 15-9. Its 60-vote Senate floor threshold has grown harder to reach, complicated by the death of Graham and the mid-June hospitalization of Senator Mitch McConnell, which has reduced the Republican majority to 51-47.

Democrats have signaled they will not support the bill without provisions addressing potential conflicts of interest between lawmakers and the crypto industry, citing Trump's memecoin and his family's World Liberty Financial company. Trump's latest financial disclosure listed more than $1 billion in crypto-derived income, including over $500 million from World Liberty Financial. Negotiators also remain divided over developer liability protections for non-custodial software. Graham, who served in the Senate since 2003, did not sit on the banking or agriculture committees this session and did not cast a vote advancing the CLARITY Act, though he voted in favor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in 2025.

Senator Cynthia Lummis said on X that she supported Trump's comments and described Graham as "passionate about ensuring that American leadership stayed at the forefront of everything - including digital assets." Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith cited emerging bill text and momentum as reasons a path exists, while Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn recently cut his firm's 2026 passage odds to 50%. On Polymarket, trader-implied odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 fell on July 13 to roughly 24%, down from above 70% earlier this year.

In a separate legal development, Wyoming crypto bank Custodia asked the Supreme Court to revive its fight with the Federal Reserve, seeking review of its denied master account application. Cointelegraph sought comment from the offices of Senators Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Angela Alsobrooks on Trump's comments, but did not receive an immediate response, and a request to Lummis' office for clarification on Graham's position on digital assets also did not receive an immediate response by press time.