This negotiation over the government’s conflict of interest section has delayed progress on the Clarity Act for months – now potentially beyond the window in which it could most easily become law in 2026. This week’s release of the final working version of the Clarity Act included the first openly released ethics language, so Democrats are now responding – many of them with disdain.
“Donald Trump has raked in more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency projects, and this bill does nothing to stop him from hoovering up his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who is one of her party’s ranking members on the Senate Banking Committee, referring to the crypto earnings Trump has disclosed for 2025. She said the president would “ignore simply the law” as proposed.
So what is language for? It temporarily prohibits high-ranking government officials (including the president, vice president, members of Congress, and federal judges) from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies.
However, this excuses past activity and there are many crypto trading activities that do not check the issuance or sponsorship boxes. It is therefore unlikely that Trump will be forced to abandon some of his most important ties, such as his stake in World Liberty Financial. He may need to create some legal distance for himself, for example by placing certain investments in trusts that he cannot access directly.
