Summary
- The fate of the US crypto market-structure CLARITY Act has grown more uncertain after its July 4 signing deadline passed unmet.
- The Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee are still coordinating draft bill language even as the Senate’s final session day before recess on Aug. 7 approaches.
- Democrats are pushing for an ethics provision restricting crypto profits for the president and other senior officials, while legislative gridlock in the House remains another variable.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Prospects for passage of the CLARITY Act, a US crypto market-structure bill, are becoming less certain.
CoinDesk reported on July 5 that Patrick Witt, a White House adviser on digital assets, said in May he hoped the CLARITY Act would be signed by July 4. That deadline passed without action. Even so, three people familiar with the discussions told the outlet they remain optimistic the bill can still pass this year.
A key date is Aug. 7, the Senate’s last scheduled session day before its summer recess and the start of election campaigning. The Senate would need to remain in session only a few more days to debate and vote on the bill, after which the House could move quickly. Working-level negotiations are continuing during the recess, with the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee still coordinating draft language.
Political obstacles remain significant. Democrats are demanding that the bill include ethics provisions restricting crypto profits by the president, vice president, senior administration officials and lawmakers’ family members. President Donald Trump’s recently disclosed 2025 financial filing showed he generated about $2 billion of income last year, with about $1.4 billion of that coming from the crypto industry through memecoin-related royalties, sales of World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, tokens, and dealings with an Abu Dhabi royal-family affiliate.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said any crypto bill that reaches the Senate floor must prevent the president and lawmakers’ family members from profiting from the crypto industry. Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who voted for the bill in the Banking Committee, wrote on X that he would do everything he could to stop what he called Trump’s corrupt crypto deals.
Gridlock in the House is another factor. Politico and Punchbowl News recently reported that the chamber has failed to make meaningful progress even on procedural matters. CoinDesk said the Senate is closely watching the situation and that the turmoil is sapping urgency from the negotiations.
