Why Trump Backed Tougher Ethics Rules in Clarity Act, and Why the Crypto Industry Thinks It Can Pass

Senate Republicans circulated an updated Clarity Act late Sunday in a last attempt to win Democratic support before a procedural vote on Tuesday that needs 60 senators to proceed. Republicans described the package as their final offer and said it incorporates many Democratic requests; Democrats held caucus-level discussions Sunday but had not formally engaged the new text as of its release. Because cloture requires a supermajority, GOP leaders will need multiple Democrats to break ranks to advance the bill. A central development was the inclusion of stronger ethics restrictions that President Trump accepted after earlier pushback. The revised language would compel covered officials to divest certain digital-asset holdings or place them into qualified blind trusts, broaden the definition of covered officials to include some elected-but-not-yet-sworn individuals and their spouses, allow state attorneys general to enforce the prohibitions, and eliminate a previously proposed sunset date. Sources involved in negotiations said discussions with White House advisers and industry outreach during August helped shift the president's stance; reporting also notes that forced divestment could create tax-deferral opportunities for assets sold. On technical and market-facing issues, Republicans made concessions and adjustments to win broader support. The updated Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act retains civil protections aimed at software developers and noncustodial providers who do not handle customer funds, but it removes explicit protections from criminal prosecution under Section 1960 — a change that industry advocates called a setback. The package also added language on stablecoins, including a so-called "circuit breaker," and addressed disputes over stablecoin yield and agriculture-related provisions that had been sticking points during negotiations. Early reaction from the crypto industry skewed cautiously optimistic. Some market observers said the revisions improve the bill's chances; Galaxy Digital's head of research, Alex Thorn, said he raised his odds of passage for 2026 from 10% to 25%. Still, industry participants and lawmakers noted the legislative calendar and the need for bipartisan defections make success uncertain, and Democrats had yet to signal whether enough of their members would support the proposal on Tuesday.