Warren Brands the Clarity Act a Giveaway to Trump and Cartels
The senator says the bill would help criminals move money and won't stop Trump cashing in, though its latest draft adds ethics limits on officials.
Elizabeth Warren wants the Clarity Act killed. In a video posted to X on Thursday, the Massachusetts senator called the draft digital asset bill a handout to the crypto industry. It would make it easier for criminals, cartels and terrorists to move money, she said, while failing to protect investors or the financial system. "This isn't regulation, this is a giveaway," Warren said. "This bill should be dead on arrival." Her sharpest line landed on the White House: the bill, she argued, does nothing to stop Donald Trump from cashing in on his presidency.
What the draft bans
That last claim drew a fast correction. X users appended a note to Warren's video, pointing out that the Senate GOP's updated text already includes ethics provisions barring federal officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. The latest draft extends that ban to officials' families. Warren has spent months trying to rein in the president's crypto business, including a call for a probe into the Trump family's biggest ventures.
Warren has been here before. She is a long standing crypto critic who has argued that billions in tax revenue vanish each year to crypto users dodging their taxes. Trump, for his part, ran as a crypto friendly candidate. How his family has profited since has become its own fight in Washington, from the TRUMP meme coin to the World Liberty Financial venture. Both Trump and the White House have consistently denied any conflict of interest.
The stablecoin holdup
Warren is not the only obstacle in the bill's path. Senate Republicans started circulating fresh text this week ahead of a possible floor vote, the product of more than a year of White House meetings involving bankers, regulators and industry heavyweights. The House already passed its version. What is stuck now is stablecoins, specifically whether issuers can pay yield to the people holding them.
Bank chiefs warn that rewards on stablecoins could drain deposits out of the traditional system and squeeze their ability to lend to U.S. businesses. Not all of finance agrees. On Thursday, Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon became one of the first major bank bosses to publicly back the bill. A floor vote is possible, though it has yet to be scheduled.
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Disclosure
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