'We desperately need legislation that includes an agreement on ethics:' Trump financial filing adds urgency to crypto bill negotiations

President Donald Trump's newly released financial disclosure, which shows hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto-related income, is adding fresh urgency to bipartisan efforts to write ethics restrictions into a landmark crypto market structure bill.

The 927-page financial document released on Tuesday revealed that Trump's income included millions of dollars tied to World Liberty Financial (WLFI) — a decentralized finance company launched by the Trump family in 2024.

The disclosure arrived as lawmakers negotiate a crypto market-structure bill, called the Clarity Act, that would create the industry's first comprehensive federal regulatory framework.

Negotiators from both parties have spent months discussing ethics provisions that would limit how presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and other federal officials can profit from digital assets while in office. Democrats renewed those calls Wednesday after Trump's filing became public, while a key Republican negotiator said ethics language remains part of ongoing bipartisan talks.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., didn't mince words, calling Trump and his family "the most corrupt we’ve ever seen in the White House," adding that an ethics provision is vital.

"We desperately need legislation that includes an agreement on ethics—that would apply to the President, Vice President, and all of us," Alsobrooks said in a statement to The Block. "I want hardworking Americans to benefit from digital assets in a fair and honest way, not through corruption and cheating the system."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said work is continuing on "rigorous, bipartisan ethics reform" that would include a ban on presidents, vice presidents and lawmakers from using crypto for their personal profit.

"No politician, including the president, should be profiting off of their public office," Gillibrand said in a statement to The Block.

After the disclosure was released, crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the Clarity Act must stop lawmakers, the president and vice presidents, as well as their families, from profiting from the crypto industry.

"If it does not, it will only turbocharge Donald Trump’s brazen crypto corruption," Warren said in a statement.

'Work with us'

On the Republican side, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., also said the Clarity Act must include ethics provisions. Lummis has been one of Congress' most vocal advocates for crypto legislation, frequently urging lawmakers on social media to move the bill forward. She is leaving her post at the end of her term in January 2027.

“The Clarity Act will include strong ethics provisions— provisions we have been negotiating in good faith with the White House and Democrats—that will ensure no elected official, regardless of party, can use their position to profit from digital assets," Lummis said in a statement to The Block.

The Block did not receive a response when asked for details about the proposed ethics language.

"I am hopeful my colleagues will come to the table and help us get this bill done," Lummis added. "The path forward is simple: if you have concerns about ethics and digital assets, work with us to pass this bill."

On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump responded to concerns about his financial report, telling reporters that his personal finances are held in a "blind account."

"They invest my money. I don’t talk to them. I don’t even speak to them," he said during a press gaggle, The Hill reported. "So, I have many people, I don’t know what they call them, closed accounts or something, you put their money and that’s it. I don’t talk to them. They’re big institutions, and they run it."

Trump's filing also reported income from First Lady Melania Trump, revealing a $6 million income from the sale of NFTs, up from just over $216,000 the year before. She launched her first NFT in 2021 — a watercolor portrait of Trump's eyes called "Melania's Vision."