Trump urges Congress to pass CLARITY Act at White House crypto meeting

President Donald Trump hosted a high-profile White House meeting on August 19, 2026, with top crypto executives and regulators, urging Congress to pass a "fair version" of the stalled CLARITY Act. While Trump and industry leaders like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong frame the bill as vital to keeping the U.S. ahead of China, the legislation remains deadlocked in the Senate. Key sticking points include partisan disputes over decentralized finance, stablecoins, and strict ethics rules that could restrict Trump's own $1.4 billion crypto holdings.

Trump White House crypto meeting

• ▪The White House meeting was attended by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig.
• ▪President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a "fair version" of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to establish federal rules for the U.S. digital asset market.
• ▪President Donald Trump hosted a meeting with cryptocurrency executives, financial-market leaders, and U.S. regulators at the White House on August 19, 2026.

CLARITY Act legislative status

• ▪The CLARITY Act faces a 60-vote procedural threshold in the Senate, with Majority Leader John Thune filing a cloture motion setting up a vote in September 2026.
• ▪Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego warned on August 20, 2026, that rushing a vote on the CLARITY Act before building a bipartisan coalition could set the legislation back.
• ▪The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the CLARITY Act by a 294–134 vote in July 2025.

Regulatory jurisdiction division

• ▪SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, which offers fundraising exemptions up to $75 million, supports rather than replaces the CLARITY Act.
• ▪The CFTC scheduled its first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting for August 20, 2026, to discuss crypto, artificial intelligence, and prediction markets.
• ▪The CLARITY Act would establish legal categories for digital assets and divide regulatory oversight duties between the SEC and the CFTC.

Senate negotiation sticking points

• ▪Negotiators remain divided over how the CLARITY Act should treat decentralized finance protocols and rewards paid on stablecoin balances.
• ▪Senate negotiations over the CLARITY Act are stalled over proposed ethics rules that would limit digital asset holdings and business interests for senior government officials.
• ▪Democratic negotiators are pressing for ethics restrictions that could affect President Donald Trump's personal digital asset interests, from which he reported earning $1.4 billion in 2025.

U.S.-China crypto competition framing

• ▪President Donald Trump argued that passing the CLARITY Act is necessary to keep the United States ahead of China and other global competitors in financial technology.
• ▪Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov stated that opponents of the CLARITY Act fail to understand that global reserve currency status is not preordained for the next 100 years.