That government conflict of interest negotiation had delayed progress on the Clarity Act for months — now potentially beyond the window when it could most easily become law in 2026. This week’s release of the final working draft of Clarity included the first ethics language to circulate openly, so Democrats are now reacting — many of them with disdain.
“Donald Trump raked in more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures, and this bill prevents him from vacuuming up his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who is her party’s ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, referring to the crypto earnings the president will ignore for she said the crypto earnings the president will ignore in 2025. law” as it is proposed.
So what does language do? It temporarily prohibits high-ranking government officials (including the president, vice president, members of Congress, and federal judges) from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies.
That does excuse activity in the past, however, and there are plenty of crypto businesses that don’t tick the boxes for issuance or sponsorship, so it’s unlikely that Trump would be forced to give up some of his most prominent ties, such as his stake in World Liberty Financial. He may need to create some legal distance for himself, such as placing certain investments in trusts that he cannot directly access.
