Trump Pressures Senate on the CLARITY Act
Trump wants the CLARITY Act moved through the Senate fast, but ethical concerns and unresolved crypto rules are still slowing it down. Polymarket is now pricing in a lower chance of passage.
Key Takeaways
- Trump is pushing the U.S. Senate to move quickly on the CLARITY Act.
- The bill is meant to bring clearer rules for digital assets, but ethical and policy concerns are still making a vote difficult.
- The odds of passage on Polymarket fell by almost 5 percentage points today.
President Donald Trump is urging the U.S. Senate to pass the CLARITY Act without delay. He says the bill would help keep China from taking control of crypto and artificial intelligence, even as the chances of a deal appear to be fading quickly. On prediction market Polymarket, the odds of approval fell by almost 5 percentage points today.
Pressure on the Senate
Trump posted his appeal on Truth Social and linked it to the late Senator Lindsey Graham, whom he called a supporter of the bill. In the post, he argued that China and other countries would want “complete and total control” over these industries, while the U.S., in his view, still has the lead in AI.
The clock is ticking. The Senate is back from recess, but lawmakers have only about four weeks before the summer break begins on August 8. In Washington, that window is widely seen as the last realistic chance this year to get the bill through the chamber.
Why the Bill Is Stuck
The CLARITY Act is designed to create a clearer legal framework for digital assets in the United States, building on the GENIUS Act, the first major U.S. crypto law signed last year. In July 2025, the House of Representatives passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act by a vote of 294 to 134, and the Senate Banking Committee later moved the proposal forward by 15 to 9.
Even so, a floor vote in the Senate is still a tough lift. The bill needs 60 votes to advance, and ethical concerns remain the biggest obstacle. Democrats want stronger guardrails around possible conflicts of interest tied to Trump’s crypto activity. His latest financial disclosure listed crypto as his largest source of income, with more than $1 billion ($0.9 billion) from family businesses, including over $500 million ($438 million) through World Liberty Financial.
There are still unresolved policy questions as well, including protections for developers of non-custodial software. That makes a compromise even harder to reach politically, especially now that the Senate margin has narrowed after Graham’s death and Mitch McConnell’s absence since mid-June.
A Signal for European Readers
For European crypto readers, this is worth watching because the U.S. still plays a major role in setting the tone for global market structure. If the CLARITY Act stalls, Washington’s legal approach to digital assets will remain unclear, along with the rules that could eventually apply. That uncertainty could also influence how crypto companies, investors, and regulators outside the U.S. think about the American framework.
