Bloomberg Says Trump Family Crypto Business Is Biggest Obstacle to CLARITY Act

Bloomberg reported that the CLARITY Act, a top focus for the crypto industry, is running into obstacles because of ethics concerns tied to US President Donald Trump’s family digital-asset businesses.

On July 25, Bloomberg said Democrats are pushing for tougher ethics rules to ensure Trump and his family cannot continue profiting from digital-asset ventures. The ethics provisions in the revised CLARITY Act released by Republicans this week have been criticized as falling short of that demand.

The bill needs at least 60 votes to pass the US Senate. Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning they need support from at least eight Democrats. Senator Angela Alsobrooks said ethics language is the most critical issue in the CLARITY Act debate.

Democrats have also opposed a provision that gives the Justice Department sole authority to enforce penalties for ethics violations while limiting the independent oversight powers of state attorneys general.

Beyond ethics rules, the main unresolved issues include consumer protection, illicit-finance prevention and regulation of stablecoin rewards. Banks are calling for tighter rules on rewards, arguing that deposits could move from traditional bank accounts into stablecoin accounts.

Markets are also showing lower expectations for the bill’s passage. Bloomberg said prediction market Polymarket put the odds of the CLARITY Act passing this year at about 33% after Republicans released the revised bill.