President Donald Trump is demanding the Senate approve, as soon as possible, the Clarity Act, cryptocurrency legislation, as a way to honor Republican Senator and presidential supporter Lindsey Graham, who passed away on July 11.
"In honor of Senator Graham, a great supporter, the Senate should pass the Clarity Act. China, and many other countries, would like to take total control of this important financial development, as well as AI, where we are now leaders, but where they are fighting hard. Don't let China win on either topic!" the president posted on his Truth Social network.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on July 17, 2025, but it has been bogged down in the Senate for months. It only entered the chamber's legislative calendar on June 1, 2026, after months of disputes over several sensitive issues.
Senator Cynthia Lummis warned in June that if the law is not passed in 2026, it may be necessary to wait until 2030 to take it up again. The cryptocurrency market had taken for granted a regulatory clarity that would unlock institutional investments that have been long delayed.
What is the Clarity Act?
If passed, the Clarity Act would be one of the first comprehensive laws regulating cryptocurrencies. Although it has the support of investors in these virtual assets and has passed the House, Democratic senators are pushing for greater ethical guarantees to be required of elected officials such as Trump himself, who has made billions of dollars in this market.
In June, the president revealed he had earned profits of $1.4 billion thanks to the Official Trump memecoin, the family business World Liberty Financial, and other digital asset investments.
CNBC reports that in May, the Senate Banking Committee approved the bill by 15 votes to 9, with the support of two Democrats who joined Republicans to advance the legislation. Despite Trump's view that the law would be a tribute to the late senator, Graham was not a member of the Banking Committee, so he did not cast any vote, either for or against it.
He was also not a key figure in cryptocurrency policy debates nor a leading actor on the Clarity Act, CNBC adds. The bill was championed in the upper chamber by Senator Tim Scott and the aforementioned Lummis.
Major companies in the crypto sector, such as Coinbase, Circle, and Ripple support the Clarity Act, hoping that industry regulation will encourage investors.
But banks are opposed and warn that the law would allow these companies to offer interest-like payments to those holding stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to another currency, such as the dollar). This would cause bank deposits to decrease and leave less money available for lending.
CNBC itself considers it quite likely that senators will vote on the Clarity Act. Coinbase Vice President Ryan VanGrack told the network that Democrats had added additional customer protections in order to strengthen the legislation.
