- Trump accepted 80% of the ethics plan, including divestment or blind trusts.
- BRCA retains civil safeguards but drops criminal protections under Section 1960.
- Treasury could intervene if stablecoin rewards trigger community bank deposit flight.
Senate Republicans released their final rewrite of the Clarity Act ahead of Tuesday’s crucial cloture vote, adding concessions on political ethics, stablecoin yield and digital-asset market structure.
The updated bill incorporates 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats after more than a year of negotiations. Republicans described the draft as their “last, best and final” offer before senators decide whether to advance the legislation.
Clarity Act Rewrite Expands Crypto Ethics Rules
President Donald Trump accepted about 80% of an ethics proposal developed by Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, according to a senior Republican aide.
The revised language would require federal officials to divest substantial financial interests in cryptocurrency issuers or place them in a blind trust. It also gives state attorneys general a role in enforcing the ethics provisions, reversing earlier White House resistance to state-level enforcement.
State attorneys general could also sue exchanges that list digital assets prohibited under the legislation. However, Tillis and Gallego had not publicly endorsed the compromise when Republicans announced it.
BRCA Loses Criminal Protections for Developers
Republicans also narrowed the provisions of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The new text protects qualifying software developers from money-transmission registration requirements and establishes a civil safe harbor.
However, lawmakers removed language that would have extended those protections to criminal cases, including prosecutions under Section 1960 for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The bill also clarifies that developer protections do not override derivatives laws or alter existing Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over prediction markets.
Treasury Gains Stablecoin Circuit-Breaker Authority
The stablecoin section introduces a circuit breaker designed to address concerns about deposit flight from community banks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could intervene if regulators find evidence that stablecoin rewards are causing widespread deposit outflows from those lenders.
The compromise preserves permitted transaction-based rewards while creating a federal backstop against disruptive deposit outflows.
Agriculture Committee provisions add further restrictions on vertical integration, affiliate trading and conflicts involving digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers. The draft also confirms that state consumer protection laws remain applicable.
Tuesday’s procedural vote will determine whether the Senate begins considering the measure. Cloture requires 60 votes. If senators invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, Republicans plan to offer the rewritten Clarity Act as a substitute amendment, bringing its ethics, stablecoin and market-structure rules before the chamber.
Related: Revised CLARITY Act Adds 100+ Changes, Lummis Calls It Bipartisan Effort
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