The digital asset framework bill, the CLARITY Act, originally viewed as a milestone for U.S. crypto regulation, was suddenly halted at the last moment due to a White House "disagreement".
The Trump administration refused to support provisions limiting officials from holding and promoting crypto assets, causing the bill prepared for House submission to be instantly blocked, with hopes of passing before the July recess sharply declining.
Trump's One Sentence of "Disagreement"
The House Agriculture and Financial Services Committees had jointly passed the CLARITY Act in early June, originally planning to schedule it for a House vote in July.
A key dispute emerged on June 10th: Democratic leader Maxine Waters proposed the "Stop Trump in Crypto" amendment, requiring the President, Vice President, Congress members, and their families to not hold, operate, or promote crypto assets during their term.
Although the amendment was rejected 21 to 30, subsequent negotiations on compromise provisions continued until the White House explicitly stated "disagreement" on the evening of June 11th, immediately terminating negotiations.
We are trying to find the remaining white area between the Democrats' 'preventing Trump from profiting' and the Republicans' 'not being seen as targeting Trump'.
A staff member involved in negotiations revealed that without at least 100 Democratic votes, the Senate would not take up the bill. The White House's attitude caused the bill to stall midway.
Trump's $3.3 Billion Crypto Empire Raises Conflict of Interest Concerns
Trump has recently been actively embracing crypto, with his portfolio including World Liberty Financial (WLFI), Trump USD1 stablecoin, Bitcoin mining, Truth Social Bitcoin ETF, and a personal $TRUMP meme coin.
These projects have brought the Trump family around $3.3 billion in revenue, elevating his personal net worth to $5.6 billion. His extensive token holdings and promotional activities have been widely criticized as "referee and player".
While the White House emphasizes that presidential assets are managed by a trust, opponents argue that the current mechanism is insufficient to separate presidential decision-making from personal interests.
Cross-Party Negotiations Breakdown
The CLARITY Act, originally positioned alongside the GENIUS Act on stablecoins as a "dual crypto arrow", was expected to be submitted to the President for signature before August, signaling "the U.S. as the global crypto capital". Now, with internal House changes, the bill will likely need to restart voting procedures no earlier than autumn.
If the deadlock continues, the U.S. will further fall into a regulatory gray area. With CFTC and SEC jurisdictions unclear, exchanges cannot determine compliance standards, and some businesses are already considering moving to Singapore or Dubai. Crypto enterprise listings and fundraising plans may be suspended. More importantly, Trump's continued deep involvement in the crypto ecosystem while refusing to accept conflict of interest constraints raises concerns about potential market manipulation.
