White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt says he is still “optimistic and bullish” on the CLARITY Act, the 600-page bill meant to hand the United States a federal framework for digital asset markets.
A September 15 deadline
Senators are away on August recess and are not due back in Washington until mid-September.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already scheduled a cloture vote for September 15, a procedural step that would limit debate and move the bill toward a full vote.
Witt, speaking Tuesday at the SALT conference in Wyoming, said Republicans plan to use the coming weeks to meet with Democrats and lock down votes before that date.
The House passed its own version of the bill back in July 2025, but the Senate has moved far more slowly, and the calendar is tight with another break scheduled in October.
Stablecoin rewards reopen old wounds
Banks have spent months objecting to exchanges paying yield to users simply for holding stablecoins, arguing it competes directly with deposits.
A compromise brokered by Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis would ban rewards tied purely to holding, while still allowing them for payments and certain transactions.
That deal looked settled until Tim Scott, the Republican chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, acknowledged Tuesday that the issue had resurfaced.
The same fight already forced several delays of the bill in the spring, and rewards programs remain a meaningful revenue line for exchanges.
Trump’s conflicts still unresolved
Democrats continue pressing for stricter rules on officials with crypto interests, a direct reference to Trump and his family’s ventures.
One proposal would bar public officials and their spouses from issuing or promoting certain digital assets, though investing would remain allowed, with the measure expiring in January 2029.
A separate effort from Senators Ruben Gallego and Tillis would let state attorneys general enforce parts of those rules.
Trump is still reviewing that version, and Senator Cynthia Lummis has said she does not know which way he will go.
