Senate Hits One-Yard Line On CLARITY Act While Ethics Provision Still In The End Zone 🏈

President Donald Trump is set to meet with U.S. senators at the White House on Thursday to negotiate the ethics provision of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, according to people familiar with the plans, as lawmakers race to pass the crypto market structure bill before the August recess. Senator Bernie Moreno said a group of senators will brief the president on the bill and "its path to success," with Senator Cynthia Lummis also expected to attend, according to a Senate Republican aide. "We'll be talking about the entirety of the bill. I mean, obviously the president's been very engaged in this bill," Moreno said. "He's the one who's really driven the innovation that I think will pay dividends." Senator Thom Tillis, who has been helping work through the CLARITY Act's unresolved provisions, told Politico: "I'm hoping that we can come up with some agreement by the end of this week. I think it's critical if we're going to try and get this across the floor before August recess."

The president on Monday urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act "in honor of" Senator Lindsey Graham, who died at age 71 on Saturday after a brief illness. In a Truth Social post, Trump called Graham "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. Senator Cynthia Lummis said on X that Graham "was passionate about ensuring that American leadership stayed at the forefront of everything - including digital assets." Graham, a South Carolina lawmaker who served in the Senate since 2003, did not serve on the banking committee or agriculture committee in the current session of Congress and did not cast any vote advancing the CLARITY Act, though he voted in favor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in 2025.

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Summer Mersinger, who is CEO of the Blockchain Association, said lawmakers are combining the Senate Banking Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee versions of the bill and expect a Senate floor vote "probably early next week." "We're in the process of merging what was the Senate Banking Committee's bill with the Senate Agriculture Committee's bill," Mersinger said on the Thinking Crypto podcast, adding that lawmakers are "negotiating some of the last-minute issues" before moving to a vote. "We're at the one-yard line right now," she said. "I feel like we can get it across the finish line." The bill would shift much of the authority for enforcing digital asset regulation and oversight from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the CFTC. The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act 294-134 in July 2025, with dozens of Democrats joining, and it later cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9.

The ethics provision remains the major sticking point. Democrats have demanded restrictions on the president, vice president and members of Congress regarding personal crypto ties, particularly after Trump's financial disclosure showed he earned more than $1 billion from his industry involvement in 2025, including more than $500 million from his family's World Liberty Financial company. On Tuesday, several Democratic senators held a press conference calling for CLARITY Act opposition if it doesn't sever Trump's "corrupt" ties to the sector, though that group did not include Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who has been at the front of negotiations. According to a Crypto In America report, the White House has yet to sign off on an ethics provision as of today and has not made clear which ethical parameters it would support, which could further delay the release of an updated bill text. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said voting against the CLARITY Act would cause bad actors to continue exploiting the current unregulated crypto environment, adding, "We've seen this movie. Let's not watch the sequel," in reference to the FTX collapse.

The vote will test whether supporters have enough backing to overcome the Senate's 60-vote cloture threshold. With Graham's death and Senator Mitch McConnell's absence since mid-June, Republicans' current majority in the Senate has been reduced to 51-47, likely requiring additional support from Democrats to meet the 60-vote threshold to pass the crypto bill. Prediction market Kalshi traders put a 79% chance on the CLARITY Act being voted on by the Senate before the August recess, up from 68.8% the previous day, while a $3 million Kalshi market gives the bill a 36% chance of becoming law in 2026 and a 62% chance of doing so before the end of 2027. Polymarket traders put the chance of the CLARITY Act being signed into law this year at 39%, down from above 70% earlier, according to data cited by Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn, whose firm recently cut its passage odds to 50%. Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith cited building momentum and the emerging bill text as reasons for a real path to passage. Meanwhile, Wyoming crypto bank Custodia asked the Supreme Court to revive its fight with the Federal Reserve, seeking review of its denied master account application.