Lawmakers have intensified calls for an investigation into President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings as the Senate prepares to advance the CLARITY Act.
Summary
- Elizabeth Warren and four Senate Democrats have called for hearings into Trump’s crypto holdings before the CLARITY Act advances.
- Democrats argue Trump’s reported $1.4 billion in crypto income raises conflict-of-interest concerns and want ethics rules added to the bill.
- Senate negotiators continue revising the CLARITY Act as debates over DeFi rules, developer protections, and regulator appointments persist.
According to a joint statement from Democratic senators, ranking members from five Senate committees have asked Congress to hold hearings into the national security implications of President Trump’s crypto business interests, arguing that his financial disclosures raise new questions just as lawmakers finalize legislation that would reshape U.S. digital asset regulation.
The statement was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden. Citing Trump’s latest financial disclosure, the lawmakers said the president’s family crypto ventures generated roughly $1.4 billion in income and argued that unidentified third parties continue to hold stakes in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial project.
They contended that these financial interests warrant closer scrutiny before Congress moves ahead with the CLARITY Act.
Democratic lawmakers also argued that the disclosures raise concerns over the administration’s support for crypto legislation while simultaneously pursuing regulatory changes affecting the industry. According to the senators, those concerns extend to efforts they say would exempt parts of the crypto sector from existing financial rules and weaken enforcement measures.
Ethics provisions remain a sticking point
Separately, Senator Elizabeth Warren renewed her call for ethics restrictions within the CLARITY Act. In a post on X, Warren argued that the legislation should prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior administration officials, and their immediate families from profiting from cryptocurrency ventures while serving in public office.
She described Trump’s crypto business interests as corruption and said Congress has a responsibility to prevent conflicts of interest through the legislation.
Trump has previously dismissed criticism surrounding the disclosures, saying he was unaware of the reported crypto income and maintaining that there was nothing illegal about the earnings.
The ethics debate has emerged as Senate negotiators prepare an updated version of the CLARITY Act that combines proposals from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. According to earlier reporting, the consolidated draft is expected to exceed 70 pages and include stronger consumer protection provisions alongside changes negotiated in recent weeks.
The Senate is targeting floor consideration during the week of July 20, leaving lawmakers with limited time before the chamber’s August recess.
Senate negotiations continue amid regulatory disputes
At the same time, negotiations over the legislation continue beyond ethics provisions. Law enforcement organizations have argued that language governing decentralized finance could make investigations into illicit finance more difficult, adding another issue for senators to resolve before any floor vote.
Senator Ron Wyden has also urged Senate leaders to preserve Section 604, known as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, arguing in a letter to Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer that legal protections for non-custodial blockchain developers should remain in the final bill.
Meanwhile, the White House has rejected accusations that it is refusing to nominate Democratic commissioners to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In a letter to Thune and Schumer, the administration said it had requested qualified Democratic nominees for both agencies but had not received any names, responding to criticism over vacant seats at regulators expected to oversee large portions of the crypto market if the CLARITY Act becomes law.
Another development came from the private sector, where Coinbase announced that Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal will step down on July 31. His departure comes only days before the Senate is expected to resume work on the CLARITY Act, placing one of the crypto industry’s most prominent legal leadership changes alongside a pivotal period for U.S. digital asset legislation.
