Senate Republicans released the full 616-page text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, on July 22, adding what the White House called the broadest and most comprehensive ethics provision ever included in this kind of legislation.
Under the bill, all federal officials, government employees, and their spouses would be prohibited from issuing or sponsoring any digital asset. Crypto trading platforms would also be barred from listing tokens issued or sponsored by those officials.
Ethics rule would cover federal officials and spouses
Senator Cynthia Lummis, the bill’s leading champion, said the ethics language would also apply to President Donald Trump. The report said Trump made more than $1.4 billion from crypto investments last year, a figure that has drawn concern from some of his colleagues.
The restriction would not be permanent. It would automatically expire on Jan. 20, 2029, the day Trump’s second term ends.
Attorney general would lead enforcement
The bill assigns the U.S. attorney general as the main enforcement authority rather than state regulators.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks told Politico, “If that clause were not in there, I would not support it, but we will build from that baseline and continue to push forward to make sure everybody is held accountable.”
Bill still faces a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate
The CLARITY Act is waiting for a Senate vote. After that, it would still need to go back to the House and could then potentially be sent to Trump for signature. To clear the 60-vote threshold, the bill still needs support from some Democratic senators.
Several Democrats have already said they will not vote for the legislation unless it contains strong ethics provisions. Some have described the president’s crypto dealings as “crypto corruption.”
Text appears not to include officials’ children
One notable gap is that the ethics provision appears not to cover officials’ children. The report noted that Trump’s three sons are co-founders of the family crypto business World Liberty Financial, and two of them also founded the Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin.
Vote could come next week
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is reportedly planning to bring the CLARITY Act to the Senate floor next week, though it remains unclear whether Democratic backing will be enough.
Kristin Smith, president of the Solana Policy Institute, said, “Ethics is not the only battlefield. The Senate added a full disclosure regime, an entire illicit finance section, and improvements to spot market oversight. The Senate has a chance to pass durable, bipartisan market structure legislation.”