President Donald Trump yielded on long-resisted restrictions. Senate Republicans released what they call their final offer Sunday night. The revised Digital Asset Market Clarity Act now carries stricter rules on officials’ digital asset dealings. A procedural vote looms Tuesday.
The changes arrived after months of deadlock. Democrats had blocked progress. They demanded safeguards against conflicts tied to the president’s own crypto ventures. Those ventures generated more than $1.4 billion in 2025 income, per financial disclosures. The new language forces divestment or blind trusts for significant holdings. It empowers state attorneys general to enforce violations.
Ethics Overhaul Reshapes Bill’s Path
Earlier drafts barred officials, spouses and judges from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. The update goes further. Covered individuals must divest “significant financial interest” in crypto issuers or place it in a qualified blind trust. No sunset clause limits the rules this time. Civil penalties apply. State AGs can sue to enforce them. This marks a sharp departure from prior versions that left enforcement to the Justice Department alone.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and lead negotiator, hailed the concessions. “President Trump voluntarily agreed to unprecedented ethics restrictions, holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S. history,” she said in a statement, as reported by The Block. The draft incorporates 126 substantive changes Democrats requested. Lummis, joined by Sens. Tim Scott and John Boozman, called the bill ready after a year of daily bipartisan talks.
Yet not everyone agrees. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Attorney General Letitia James voiced opposition Monday. They argue the measure still muddies state enforcement against scams and fails to fully curb presidential profits. James led a bipartisan group of attorneys general in a letter urging rejection. The bill, they said, would “embolden scammers” and limit prosecutors’ tools. Their concerns surfaced just as prediction markets reacted.
Odds on platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi jumped. The chance of the bill becoming law this year climbed toward 30%. Longer-term bets exceeded 50%. Traders bet on momentum from the ethics breakthrough. But the path stays narrow. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. Cloture needs 60 votes. At least seven Democrats must cross over. Some may balk at remaining gaps.
The ethics fight centered on Trump’s family businesses. World Liberty Financial. A USD1 stablecoin. The TRUMP memecoin. Disclosures revealed massive gains. Critics worried the president could shape policy to benefit his interests while regulators write new rules for the sector. The revised provision explicitly bars maintaining such interests without action. And it expands who counts as covered — including elected but unsworn officials.
Republican aides described the deal as accepting about 80% of a proposal from Sens. Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego. The addition of state enforcement power proved decisive. Previous text kept power solely with the DOJ, an agency Trump appoints. Democrats pushed back hard. This shift gives states a meaningful role. It also lets AGs sue exchanges listing prohibited assets.
Beyond ethics, the bill delivers the market structure framework crypto firms have sought for years. It divides oversight. The CFTC gains primary authority over most digital assets treated as commodities. The SEC retains power over those deemed securities. Non-custodial developers receive protections under an updated Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, though criminal prosecution shields were narrowed. Stablecoin provisions include a Treasury “circuit breaker” to prevent deposit flight from banks.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins endorsed the legislation Monday even as he vowed the agency would push its own agenda regardless. “Congress should vote to advance the Clarity Act and send it to the president’s desk as soon as possible,” he said at a Solana Policy Institute event, according to CoinDesk. “But let me be equally clear: with or without that legislation, this administration will deliver for American investors and technological innovators.”
Wall Street’s crypto expansion continues apace either way. Banks and asset managers build tokenized products, custody solutions and trading platforms. Clarity would accelerate that work. Failure would slow it but not stop the momentum entirely. Industry groups welcomed the latest text even as some grumbled about concessions on DeFi and stablecoin yield.
The original House version passed last year by a wide margin. Senate committees advanced their drafts earlier in 2026. Yet the ethics dispute tied everything in knots. Trump initially resisted broad limits. His agreement now signals a desire to claim a legislative win. Lummis warned Democrats that voting no means opposing ethics reforms on politicians’ investments and leaving markets without protections.
Still, passage remains uncertain. Amendments could alter the text further if the bill advances. Reconciliation with the House version awaits. The congressional calendar tightens. Midterm politics loom. And opposition from banking groups over stablecoin language persists. They fear competition for deposits.
So the Tuesday cloture vote tests more than procedure. It measures whether compromise on presidential conflicts can bridge partisan divides on a once-obscure technology now worth trillions. Trump bet his crypto empire wouldn’t block reform. Democrats must decide if the safeguards suffice. The industry watches closely. Regulatory certainty has long been its top ask. This bill comes closest yet.
Fortune first highlighted the shifting odds tied to these ethics provisions in its coverage of the breakthrough. Fortune detailed how the changes could sway Senate dynamics. CoinDesk published the precise revised ethics text, showing requirements for divestiture or blind trusts by the effective date of key bill sections. The Associated Press reported Trump’s concession, citing senior Republicans who confirmed the 80% alignment with the Tillis-Gallego framework.
Recent reporting from Reuters noted banking industry pushback on stablecoin rewards language that could draw deposits away. The Block covered both the final draft release and the letter from attorneys general opposing the bill. These accounts paint a picture of fragile progress. One where ethics concessions bought a shot at advancement but haven’t yet sealed the deal.
The coming days will clarify if this pivot proves enough. Short-term market reactions already reflect optimism. Longer-term success depends on whether seven or more Democrats see the revised guardrails as credible. Trump gave ground. Lawmakers now hold the cards.