A bipartisan group of senators is drafting a counterproposal aimed at resolving the standoff over Trump-related crypto ethics rules that has threatened to stall the Clarity Act. The compromise language, first reported by Crypto Briefing, is being circulated quietly on Capitol Hill this week. The move comes as lawmakers face growing pressure to pass the Clarity Act, a bill that would establish federal definitions for digital assets and clarify which agencies regulate them.
The ethics dispute
The holdup centers on how the Clarity Act should address potential conflicts of interest involving former President Donald Trump and his family's crypto ventures. Some senators want stricter disclosure requirements or outright bans on certain crypto activities for senior officials. Others argue the bill's existing ethics provisions are sufficient. The new counterproposal is an attempt to bridge that gap without derailing the broader legislation.
What the counterproposal does
According to the report, the draft would require enhanced financial disclosures for any elected official or senior staffer who holds digital assets above a certain threshold. It stops short of banning them from trading or launching crypto projects. The language is being framed as a compromise: it tightens transparency but doesn't impose the kind of restrictions that could kill the bill's chances in a divided Congress.
The senators involved haven't released the full text yet. They're still shopping it to colleagues, trying to build enough support to attach it as an amendment when the Clarity Act reaches the floor.
Why the timing matters
The Clarity Act has been in the works for months. It's meant to give the crypto industry a clear regulatory framework — something exchanges and developers have been begging for. But every delay risks pushing the bill into the fall, where it could get buried by appropriations fights or the election cycle. The ethics dispute is the biggest unresolved issue.
Trump's crypto ties aren't going away. His family launched a new token platform earlier this year, and he's reportedly been meeting with crypto executives. That makes the ethics question politically charged. The counterproposal is an attempt to defuse it with a practical fix rather than a partisan fight.
What happens next
The draft is expected to circulate for another week or two. If it gets enough co-sponsors, it could be introduced as a formal amendment. If not, the Clarity Act might move forward without it — and the ethics rules would remain a point of contention for another day. Either way, the clock is ticking.
