By Rajwa Quasim
At a White House event with top industry executives on Wednesday, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the long-stalled CLARITY Act, saying it would bring clearer definitions and rules to the growing cryptocurrency sector.
The CLARITY Act, which remains stalled in Congress, would establish rules for determining which tokens qualify as securities or commodities and which agencies would oversee the sector. Lawmakers now have limited time to reach an agreement on the legislation before a new Congress takes office next year.
The act would allow a majority of crypto tokens to be classified as “digital commodities” and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Some tokens would be classified as securities, keeping them under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A version of the CLARITY Act passed the House in July last year, but the legislation remains stalled in the Senate.
“We need Congress to take the next step by passing the CLARITY Act, a fair version of the CLARITY Act…It’s a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else,” the president said. He described crypto as a “financial technology that has the potential to create more jobs, opportunity, and wealth for all Americans.”
READ: Trump directs federal agencies to shape crypto rules (August 19, 2026)
Executives at the White House event included Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher. Federal officials including CFTC Chair Mike Selig, SEC Chair Paul Atkins and White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt also attended.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration directed federal regulators such as the SEC and CFTC to advance its crypto-friendly policies. The SEC is currently working on a rule that could exempt some crypto token offerings from securities regulations.
The CFTC is set to hold the first meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday. A CFTC spokesperson said, “The Clarity Act is crucial to ensuring American competitiveness, and that Congress should take this opportunity to set “durable” rules. If that doesn’t happen, the CFTC stands ready to protect America’s leadership in financial markets and ensure we remain the crypto capital of the world.”
Companies also fear that shifting political dynamics and legal challenges could undermine cryptocurrency regulations, arguing that only legislation can provide lasting certainty.
READ: Crypto industry spends $189 million on US elections (June 30, 2026)
Critics of the bill have also pointed to Trump’s financial interests in crypto ventures, saying he earned more than $1.4 billion from his family’s crypto ventures. The White House has denied these allegations, saying Trump’s investments are independently managed and that he has no role in day-to-day decisions at his family’s businesses.
Last month, media outlets reported that a new draft of the legislation would ban public officials, their spouses and employees from issuing or sponsoring any “digital asset” while they are in office. It would also ban companies from listing digital assets issued or sponsored by public officials and require politicians to place their existing crypto assets in a blind trust or divest them during their terms in office.
After Trump’s address at the event on Wednesday, the price of bitcoin rose to $71,834, up more than 11.5% from Tuesday’s price. It was the first time bitcoin had breached $70,000 since early June. The price of ether rose to $2,261.26, up more than 18.3% from Tuesday.
Other major cryptocurrencies also gained, with Solana’s SOL, Binance’s BNB, XRP and the memecoin DOGE rising 11.5%, 4.3%, 10.6% and 7.3%, respectively.
