President Trump gathered crypto executives and regulators at the White House on August 19 to push the CLARITY Act ahead of a September 15 Senate cloture vote. Bitcoin and Ether rallied sharply during the summit, but Polymarket's odds on the bill becoming law in 2026 have fallen to roughly 25%.
President Trump gathered crypto executives and federal regulators at the White House on August 19 to press Congress on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, setting up a September 15 Senate showdown over the bill. The meeting drew roughly two dozen attendees, including SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, and executives from Coinbase, Robinhood, Gemini, Kraken, and Ripple.
What the CLARITY Act would do
The bill sorts every digital asset into one of three categories: commodities under CFTC jurisdiction, investment contracts under SEC authority, and stablecoins under the already-enacted GENIUS Act. An ETP grandfather clause would classify tokens behind exchange-traded products launched before January 1, 2026, as non-securities, covering Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin without further action. According to crypto.news, Trump called the bill "very, very powerful structured legislation" and urged Congress to pass it before the procedural vote.
The Senate math is the obstacle
The House passed the bill 294 to 134 in July 2025, but the Senate has stalled. Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on August 8, which requires 60 votes and at least 10 Democratic crossovers to clear. Seven Democratic negotiators say the merged text falls short on ethics enforcement and consumer protection. The ethics provision has become the most politically difficult of those disputes, largely because Trump reported more than $1 billion in crypto-related income in 2025. Galaxy Research has cut its passage probability to 10%, while Polymarket odds have fallen from 82% in February to roughly 25% as of August 23.
Bitcoin and Ether rallied through the summit
Bitcoin opened the August 19 session at $64,681 and climbed to an intraday high of $72,496 as more than $1 billion in short positions were liquidated within roughly an hour. Ether climbed 18% over the same stretch, and the move erased $2.7 billion in bearish crypto bets before Bitcoin settled near $69,250 by the close. The rally coincided with the SEC's publication of its own 400-page rulemaking, Regulation Crypto Assets, on August 18, giving regulators a fallback framework if the legislation stalls in the Senate.
Source: crypto.news
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
