Don't want to trade it yourself?
Our desk runs DEX portfolios on profit share.
Legislation that would bring cryptocurrency into the regulated financial system has stalled in the U.S. Senate. President Donald Trump had thrown his weight behind the bill as a way to energize the crypto market, but questions over financial gains by him and his family derailed it
The Senate said on the 15th that a procedural vote to bring the digital asset market structure bill, known as the CLARITY Act, to the floor failed by 49 votes in favor to 50 against. That left the measure 10 votes short of the 60 needed to advance. All Democrats voted against the bill, and four Republicans — including Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri — also broke ranks. The current Senate consists of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats.
The CLARITY Act is built around clarifying the legal status of cryptocurrencies, which has long been ambiguous, and settling which agency regulates them. Under the bill, spot markets for digital assets such as bitcoin would fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while crypto assets deemed securities would be overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It would also bring crypto exchanges, brokers, custodians and decentralized finance into the federal regulatory framework, applying consumer protection and trading surveillance standards.
The bill also defines the scope of federal oversight of payment stablecoins, digital assets designed to hold a steady value. Nominally a regulatory measure, it is seen by investors as legislation to promote the industry because it would define cryptocurrency as a mainstream financial product for the first time. As recently as July last year, the bill cleared the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, passing 294 to 134 as Republicans led the effort and some Democrats joined in. Trump urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act quickly when he met crypto industry figures on the 19th of last month.
What kept the bill from clearing the Senate was the dispute over conflicts of interest involving Trump and his family. According to a financial disclosure report filed with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Trump earned more than $2.2 billion (about 3 trillion won) last year alone, with crypto-related businesses accounting for the largest share. Last year he made $588 million through World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm owned by his family, $636 million from his memecoin “$TRUMP” — a coin whose value rests on online popularity rather than any particular technical purpose — and $197 million from selling his stake in a stablecoin holding company. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., vice chairman of the Trump Organization, and his second son, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, are also said to have made large profits from crypto businesses on the back of deregulation. The federal ethics law enacted in 1978 does not impose on the president a requirement to divest assets that could create a conflict of interest.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a speech before the vote that lawmakers had to make clear they would not pass a bill allowing Trump to keep collecting billions of dollars in crypto profits while working families across the country struggle with rising prices. Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said the Senate could not pass legislation that lets the U.S. president profit personally.
Republican leaders offered an amendment that would restrict the president and other senior officials from issuing cryptocurrencies such as memecoins and give state attorneys general enforcement authority, but it was not enough to turn the situation around. Democrats demanded an enforcement mechanism that would require the president to divest once crypto holdings reached a certain level, and the negotiations ultimately broke down.
Officials in Washington see little chance the bill passes before the 119th Congress ends at the close of this year, given how little time remains. The Senate goes into recess from Oct. 5 so that members can campaign in their districts ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. For the CLARITY Act to pass, lawmakers would have to reach a dramatic agreement on amendments between their Nov. 9 return and the end of the year. Otherwise the bill dies automatically when the 120th Congress convenes on Jan. 3 next year.
Bitcoin and ether fell more than 5% and 7% respectively at one point right after news of the Senate vote Coinbase shares tumbled 10.10%. Strategy, a company holding 845,000 bitcoin, dropped 5.36%
#CLARITYAct#CryptoRegulation#USSenate#Bitcoin#Stablecoin#Coinbase
Original reporting by Yoon Kyung-hwan for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreignxact original wording
View Korean originalTranslation Policy
Most Read This Week
- 1JBL Launches Xtreme 5 Bluetooth Speaker With Stronger Bass
- 2Korea to Offer 20,000 Homes at 1,000 Won a Day for Young Adults
- 3Hyundai, POSCO Break Ground on $5.8 Billion U.S. Steel Mill
- 4Apple Raises iPhone 18 Pro Prices by 200,000 Won in Korea
- 5Samsung, SK hynix Memory Stockpiles Fall Below 10 Days
Source: en.sedaily.com