CLARITY Act: The Crypto Bill Shaking Wall Street and Washington
The Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act is quickly becoming the most significant piece of crypto legislation in U.S. history. As the Senate enters its final stretch before the August recess, a growing number of financial giants — from Fidelity to Goldman Sachs — are coming out of the woodwork to urge lawmakers to pass this landmark bill. But between the ethical quarrels surrounding Donald Trump, opposition from Democrats, and a tightening calendar, nothing is settled yet.
📜 What Is the CLARITY Act?
The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) is a bipartisan bill aimed at establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States. Sponsored by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming) and Senator Tim Scott (South Carolina), this text represents the most successful attempt to date to lift crypto out of the legal uncertainty that has paralyzed it for years.
Concretely, the CLARITY Act proposes to:
- Clarify jurisdiction between the SEC and the CFTC regarding digital assets
- Legally define what constitutes a security versus a commodity in the crypto universe
- Establish a framework for stablecoins, with reserve and transparency requirements
- Create a market structure for exchanges and trading platforms
- Prohibit public officials — including the president — from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies
- Strengthen anti-money laundering tools adapted to decentralized finance
This last point — the prohibition on officials issuing cryptos — is directly linked to Donald Trump’s projects (notably his memecoin and Solana-based NFT ventures). It is the main sticking point in current negotiations.
⏰ The Race Against Time: 4 Days Before the Senate Recess
The U.S. Senate must vote on the CLARITY Act before the August parliamentary break, which begins in less than a week. After that deadline, the bill could be delayed until after the November 2026 midterm elections, where it might be held hostage by an already chaotic election campaign.
According to analyses, the text needs 60 votes to pass the Senate. Republicans hold a majority of 52 seats versus 47 for Democrats. Therefore, at least 8 Democratic votes are needed to reach the 60-vote threshold — an extremely precarious balance.
The prediction markets reflect the surrounding uncertainty. On Polymarket, the odds of the CLARITY Act passing oscillate between 37% and 43% depending on the day and rumors — a sharp drop from the 60% seen in early July, before the ethical issue around Trump became central.
Galaxy Digital recently estimated that the Senate had “only 4 days left to save the CLARITY Act,” with the probability of passage falling to 30% according to their internal analysis. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for his part, said the text was “on the 1-yard line” — very close to the goal, but not yet scored.
🏦 Wall Street Comes Out: Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab
The day of July 25, 2026 marked a turning point in institutional support for the CLARITY Act. No fewer than three financial giants took public stances.
Fidelity: $7 Trillion That Tips the Scales
Fidelity Investments, the $7 trillion asset manager, officially called on the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act. In a statement released Friday, the Boston-based giant said that “clear regulations on digital assets are necessary to strengthen investor confidence, provide certainty to market participants, and reinforce U.S. leadership in global crypto markets.”
Fidelity is no newcomer to crypto. The group launched its first Bitcoin products in 2018, offers Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and now manages billions in digital assets for institutional clients. Its public stance sends a strong signal to Congress: Wall Street wants this regulatory framework.
Goldman Sachs: David Solomon Breaks Wall Street Consensus
In a move that surprised observers, David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, publicly supported the CLARITY Act, going against the grain of his Wall Street peers. Traditionally cautious about crypto, the legendary investment bank said that “it was time to move the crypto bill forward,” according to remarks reported by Politico.
This support caused ripples in the banking sector. According to CoinDesk, Solomon expressed his backing “despite the banking industry’s concerns about stablecoin rules.” Goldman Sachs thus joins a growing group of financial institutions that consider the regulatory status quo more costly than an imperfect but clear framework.
The gesture is all the more remarkable given that Solomon was once one of Wall Street’s most skeptical CEOs regarding crypto, calling Bitcoin a “speculative bubble” in 2021. His reversal illustrates the massive evolution of the traditional banking sector in the face of crypto adoption.
Charles Schwab: $13 Trillion Reasons to Support the CLARITY Act
Online broker Charles Schwab ($13 trillion in assets under management) has also joined the movement. With Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, and Schwab, nearly $20 trillion in assets are now positioning themselves in favor of the text — a political weight that is hard for undecided senators to ignore.
These three giants join an already impressive coalition: the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the Crypto Council for Innovation, the Blockchain Association, a16z crypto, Coinbase (whose CEO Brian Armstrong is actively lobbying on Capitol Hill), and dozens of other industry players.
⚔️ The Political Battle: Trump, Ethics, and the Trap of 60 Votes
While institutional support is massive, the path to adoption remains fraught with political obstacles. The main hurdle: the ethical provisions and their interaction with Donald Trump’s crypto empire.
The Trump Problem
Former President Donald Trump has launched several crypto projects (memecoin, NFT collections, DeFi platforms) that generate substantial revenue. The CLARITY Act, in its current version, includes a provision that would prohibit public officials — including the president — from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
According to Forbes, the latest amendments to the text “ban Trump from crypto ventures — but only until 2029,” a temporary clause that Democrats deem insufficient. The Center for American Progress has called the text “a risk to democracy and national security,” arguing it does not go far enough to prevent conflicts of interest.
The White House, for its part, pushed Democratic senators to accept a compromise, calling the ethical agreement “historic.” But several key Democratic lawmakers judged that the proposed measures “do not go far enough.”
The Democratic Position
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading figure of the anti-crypto progressive wing, has called the text “dead on arrival” in its current form. Democrats are demanding stricter safeguards against corruption, notably:
- A permanent ban (not temporary until 2029) on officials holding or issuing cryptos
- Enhanced transparency mechanisms for lawmakers’ crypto wallets
A cooling-off period between the end of a term and the...
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