The White House is pushing Senate Democrats to accept a conflict-of-interest agreement that President Donald Trump worked out with Republicans, as negotiators try to close the last major dispute holding up the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
A White House official, speaking to CoinDesk on condition of anonymity, said Trump had agreed to what the administration described as the most comprehensive and far-reaching ethics provision in history. No details have been released on the crypto restrictions Trump accepted, and Democrats have not been included in the discussions around the provision.
The ethics section would restrict senior government officials from maintaining personal business ties to the crypto industry. That would include Trump, whose family holdings have generated more than $2 billion in new wealth since he returned to office, according to Reuters.
Final draft remains delayed
Release of the final draft has been stalled for several days while negotiators continue working through the wording. Democratic lawmakers have not yet received a briefing on the concession. At the same time, Republicans and crypto industry participants have started making the case publicly that Democrats are the ones preventing the bill from moving ahead.
“If Senate Democrats block this historic legislation after the administration has bent over backward to accommodate their concerns, stakeholders should make no mistake: It is the Democrats who are blocking this legislation because they were never serious about a legislative outcome,” the White House official said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also joined the effort, saying lawmakers were at the “1-yard line” on the Clarity Act and urging Congress to pass the bill before recess.
Democratic negotiators still lack details
Democratic negotiators including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks have not seen the details of Trump’s agreement. Trump met with Republican senators at the White House last week.
Several Democrats have made clear that any ethics provision must be strong. Trump has continued pressing the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, while his disclosure that he made more than $1 billion from crypto in 2025 has given critics fresh material.
Committee approval does not settle final vote
The text of the Clarity Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee in a 15-9 vote, with Gallego and Alsobrooks joining Republicans to advance it. Both senators said in May that they would not support final passage without an ethics provision.
During the committee markup, an amendment from Senator Chris Van Hollen to bar the president, vice president and members of Congress from crypto business ties failed on an 11-13 vote.
According to CoinDesk, the industry expects the full legislative text to circulate this week. The Senate has less than three weeks to finish the bill and clear a floor vote before Majority Leader John Thune’s Aug. 7 deadline, when lawmakers will break for reelection campaigns and enter a much narrower window to complete the legislation.
Galaxy Research puts the odds of passage at 50-50.
The report first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Micah Zimmerman.