Key facts
- President Trump has agreed to new ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act.
- The CLARITY Act text was released by Senate Republicans on September 14.
- The bill includes ethics restrictions for elected officials and judges.
- The Treasury Secretary will have new authority to prevent deposit flight from payment stablecoins.
- The CLARITY Act is ready for a Senate cloture vote.
President Trump has agreed to new ethics provisions in the final text of the CLARITY Act, a cryptocurrency bill that Senate Republicans released on September 14. The bill, which has undergone over a year of bipartisan negotiations and 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats, is now ready for a Senate cloture vote.
Senator Cynthia Lummis confirmed the release of the final text, highlighting that President Trump voluntarily agreed to stringent ethics restrictions for federally elected officials and judges, alongside new authority for the Secretary of the Treasury to prevent deposit flight from payment stablecoins. Lummis stated that opposing the bill would mean opposing ethics reforms for politicians' personal investments.
The updated CLARITY Act text also includes changes to provisions concerning the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), stablecoin yield, and the agricultural title. The BRCA provision has been narrowed to focus on the Bank Secrecy Act and civil enforcement, removing protections for criminal cases. A "circuit breaker" has been added to stablecoin yield provisions to safeguard against widespread deposit flight from community banks. The bill also tightens guardrails around vertical integration in digital asset exchanges and clarifies that state consumer protection laws still apply.
The crypto industry has reacted positively to the development, viewing it as a potential breakthrough. Major financial institutions and law enforcement organizations have expressed support for the bill. Patrick Witt, President Trump's crypto advisor, stated that the White House and Senate Republicans have been responsive to Democrats' objectives and that it is time to pass the bipartisan bill.