New Clarity Act Draft Circulates in Senate: Ethics Limits on Trump, DeFi Developer Safe Harbor Intact

A near-final version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act includes a temporary ban on crypto conflicts for the president, blockchain developer carve-out, and a hard Senate deadline before summer recess.

A near-final version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is circulating in the U.S. Senate, according to a July 22, 2026 report by CoinDesk citing multiple sources. The draft includes an ethics provision that would ban the president and other senior government officials from direct crypto ties — currently set to expire in 2029 — and leaves the Department of Justice in charge of policing related ethics complaints.

The Senate is expected to need at least 10 Democratic votes to approve the final bill, given the chamber's 60-vote threshold on most legislation. As of the CoinDesk report, Democratic lawmakers had not yet seen the full draft text, which was posted at Punchbowl News. The Senate has approximately 16 days remaining before its summer recess, and Majority Leader John Thune's office told CoinDesk it intends to move forward with floor action before the break.

"Today's draft is a meaningful step toward the Senate vote on the Clarity Act we've been calling for," said Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone in a statement. "We're encouraged, and we're ready to keep working until the bill reaches the president's desk."

Key Provisions in the Draft

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act remains intact within the bill, meaning developers who do not control users' assets will not be classified as "money transmitters." According to Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the Solana Policy Institute, the bill also provides clear regulatory treatment for tokens and token fundraising, establishes regulation for exchanges, gives financial institutions the green light to use public blockchains, and directs federal agencies to create a regulatory pathway for tokenized securities and futures markets onchain.

The draft includes new language on federal preemption, provisional registration procedures, and commodity pool operators. Banking trade associations said the new draft "still puts at risk the local lending that drives economic activity in the U.S." regarding stablecoin yield products, according to the CoinDesk report.

Democratic Opposition on Ethics Enforcement

Senator Angela Alsobrooks, one of the few Democrats who voted for the bill in committee, said before the bill's release: "This DOJ enforcing an ethics provision? That's an unserious offer, and I wouldn't support the bill if that's the language. But we'll keep working from that floor to reach an agreement that holds us all accountable."

Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican who has been a leading Clarity Act negotiator, issued a statement thanking Democrats for their contributions and sharing "my commitment to reaching a deal in the coming days that will allow this legislation to become law."

Trump earned more than $1 billion from crypto interests in 2025, according to personal financial disclosures, a figure Democrats have cited as evidence of conflict of interest. The White House told CoinDesk on July 21 that Trump had "agreed to the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history," though the sunset provision and DOJ enforcement mechanism remain points of contention.