Senate delays CLARITY crypto vote amid Trump ethics push
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- Cynthia Lummis, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, and the exchange's chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad called the Senate's failure to advance the CLARITY Act cloture vote "disappointing" but said September would be the time to "finish the job."
- Bitmine chair Tom Lee noted in his weekly report that "financial markets seem more focused on the recent softer inflation and jobs data" rather than any fallout from CLARITY's delay.
- Democrats held up the bill demanding stricter ethics provisions around Trump's crypto investments, with World Liberty Financial and a memecoin launched days before he took office drawing fresh congressional scrutiny.
- A Wall Street Journal editorial board op-ed argued CLARITY would let crypto firms operate as "quasi-banks without abiding by the same regulations," warning small banks would lose deposits that rely on interest payments.
- Prediction markets stayed relatively bullish: a Kalshi contract backed by $1.23 million in wagers priced an 88% chance the Senate votes on CLARITY before Oct. 1, while a Polymarket contract with $5.79 million wagered gave only a 26% chance the bill becomes law this year.
- Even if the Senate passes CLARITY, the bill must return to the House for another vote before it can reach Trump's desk.
Why it matters: Trump's crypto portfolio has become the central political obstacle to the industry's top legislative priority, and prediction markets give CLARITY only a 26% chance of becoming law this year despite an 88% near-term shot at a Senate vote. Crypto firms stay in regulatory limbo while banking groups exploit the delay to push for closing the stablecoin interest loophole.
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