Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a bill that would bring clearer definitions to the growing cryptocurrency sector, a top priority for industry executives who had gathered for an event at the White House with the president.
Trump, who has earned more than $1.4 billion from his family's crypto ventures, urged lawmakers to pass a "fair version of the Clarity Act," a bill that crypto companies say would put them on solid legal ground, but has stalled in the Senate with little time left on the congressional calendar.
Several top crypto executives, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, along with Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, spoke alongside Trump at the event.
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt also attended.
"Now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act — fair version of the Clarity Act," Trump said in remarks at the event.
The Republican president has pursued crypto-friendly policies since returning to office in January 2025. But the sweeping crypto legislation that the industry wants has not yet passed Congress.
CLARITY ACT
The Clarity Act aims to define which tokens qualify as securities versus commodities, and which agencies have oversight of the sector. Without legislation, regulations will be vulnerable to the shifting political climate and court challenges, creating lingering hazards for the crypto industry, say executives and analysts.
The SEC on Tuesday proposed long-awaited rules that would exempt certain token offerings from securities regulations, making it easier for crypto companies to issue tokens and raise money. The CFTC is scheduled to discuss crypto regulation, among other issues, at an industry gathering on Thursday.
However, many Democrats, and some Republicans, have said that they would not vote for a bill without strong language to ban political officials, including Trump, from profiting off of their own crypto ventures.
Reuters/Ipsos polling this week found that a majority of Americans believe Trump and his family have inappropriately profited from the crypto sector since his return to power and that his policy decisions are influenced by his private business dealings, which include World Liberty Financial and the Trump meme coin.
Trump says that he has had no day-to-day role in his family's business and that his investments are independently managed. The White House dismisses any allegations of impropriety.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang, Susan Heavey and Michelle Price; Editing by Paul Simao and Rosalba O'Brien)
