'We're going to get it done': Crypto bill faces what could be final test over Trump conflicts of interest

Optimism is brewing in Washington to get a landmark digital asset bill across the finish line, with some variations on timing as onlookers wait to see how ethics concerns around President Donald Trump's conflicts of interest will shake out. 

"This is one of the president's top priorities, and it's a bipartisan issue in Congress," Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C.,  said in an interview with The Block in Washington, D.C., at the Injective Summit. 

"We're going to get it done — there might be a bump here or there, but it'll get done," Timmons added. 

Timing is critical. Both the House and Senate just came back to Washington after a Fourth of July recess. The House goes back on recess on July 24, while the Senate sticks around for a bit longer until Aug. 7. 

The bill, which would regulate the crypto industry for the first time comprehensively at the federal level, has been stuck in the Senate over the past year after the House passed its version of the Clarity Act a year ago.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he wants the measure on the Senate floor before the August recess. Updated legislative text is expected this week. If the Senate passes its version, however, the legislation would still need to return to the House — a step that may not happen before lawmakers leave town.

Timmons suggested the timeline could stretch into the coming months but said lawmakers are aiming to complete the effort before the November elections.

"Next few months for sure," Timmons said. 

Ethics

The Senate has so far survived a battle between banks and crypto on stablecoin rewards and debate over software developer protections have seemingly come to a simmer, leaving a major issue still unresolved — how to address Trump's crypto conflicts of interest. 

Negotiators from both parties have spent months working on ethics provisions designed to limit how presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, and other federal officials can financially benefit from digital assets while serving in office.

On Thursday afternoon, President Trump, Republican Sens. Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, along with top White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, are slated to resolve that issue in order to get Trump's sign-off.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, told The Block on Thursday that he hoped attention for the Clarity Act goes to people using digital assets, not the administration and the Trump family.

"I'm thinking about it in terms of how does it affect my constituents and the users and the small businesses that will benefit," he said. "That's why I support the legislation. I hope we can get beyond the current administration's actions and focus on the end user because that's really what the policy is for." 

Ahead of the meeting, Politico reported that current bill text does not have Democratic support. 

"They’re taking a version of the text to the president with their ethics provisions, not with anything that we agree to as Democrats,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told Politico. "At the end of the day, we don’t have strong ethics. I don’t care what the president says. You’re not going to have the Democratic votes."

The ethics conversation is a "linchpin," said Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger. 

"A lot of the Democrat offices we've met with are pretty dug in on the ethics language, that they feel strongly about not going forward without some kind of ethics deal in place," Mersinger said in an interview with The Block on Thursday morning.  

Mersinger seemed optimistic that the Clarity Act would pass into law following conversations with Senate offices.

"The right conversations are happening," she said in an interview with The Block on Thursday morning. "There's nobody on the Hill that I've met with so far that's like 'I'm going to kill this bill.'"

Prediction markets

Gaming associations have been pushing for language to include rules for prediction markets when it comes to sports betting. That could come in the form of amendments as Clarity is being negotiated. 

Mersinger said she is hearing more about people who want to add amendments on prediction markets.

"Any amendment I think would be a poison pill," Mersinger said. "I just don't see it unless it's fixing something technically."

Horsford said that issue should be its own standalone bill. 

"My office is working with Republicans on legislation, but that's a separate issue," Horsford said. "I don't want it to get convoluted with Clarity at this point."