White House crypto adviser feels 'very good' ahead of Senate Clarity Act vote on Tuesday

The White House's top crypto advisor says he feels "very good" about an initial vote in the Senate on cryptocurrency legislation that would regulate the industry for the first time at the federal level. 

On Monday, during a Solana Policy Institute summit in Washington, Witt said that the White House has attempted to address all issues that have been raised throughout Clarity Act negotiations. 

"Whether or not we get 60 votes is going to be a political calculation, not a policy calculation because this truly is a bipartisan bill that is worthy of support," Witt said. 

Less than a day before Witt's comments, Senate Republicans released their latest version of the Clarity Act, which included significant changes to the treatment of stablecoin rewards, how to address President Donald Trump's conflicts of interest as well as software developer protections — all of which have since garnered grumbling among the crypto industry, banks and lawmakers alike. 

On Monday, Witt said that was the "best and final offer." 

The Senate is slated to vote on the bill on Tuesday in an initial procedural vote in which 60 votes are needed for it to advance. One of the major sticking points has been how to address Trump's growing crypto interest. The latest gives state attorneys general a role in enforcing conflict-of-interest rules for public officials, but has since received pushback from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats over state prosecutors not being able to charge public officials, including the president. 

Witt said Trump "blessed" the latest ethics language and pushed back against criticism that state attorneys general cannot sue Trump and other public officials.

"With this ethics provision in here, I wouldn't want to be a Democrat that voted against these strong ethics provisions," Witt said. 

A section of the bill called the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act was also amended to remove references to a federal criminal statute that would have protected certain non-controlling developers. Some were disappointed by that change, with The Coin Center saying that though BRCA as a whole is progress, it "stops short of resolving the essential criminal law issue" currently going through the courts. 

On Monday, Witt said BRCA is still "robust," and said changes to it were a result of negotiations in the Senate, particularly with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada. 

Overall, if the Clarity Act does not get past the Senate, Witt alluded to regulatory agencies, like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, stepping in.

"The agencies already have tremendous rulemaking authority," Witt said.