Key Highlights
- Warren accused the new CLARITY Act draft of leaving Trump family crypto conflicts untouched.
- Senate Banking Republicans released the updated market structure text ahead of a May 14 markup.
- Republicans say the bill strengthens investor protections, illicit-finance controls and U.S. crypto competitiveness.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has opened a fresh attack on the Senate’s crypto market structure bill, warning that the latest CLARITY Act text fails to include ethics safeguards tied to President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures.
Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, released the statement on May 12 after Senate Banking Republicans unveiled new market structure text ahead of Thursday’s committee markup. She said the bill would put investors, national security and the broader financial system at risk while leaving what she described as Trump-linked crypto conflicts untouched.
Warren alleged that Trump and his family have made at least $1.4 billion from crypto deals during his current term and criticized the bill for including “zero provisions to prevent that.” She said no committee member should back a bill that fails to address the conflict-of-interest issue.
Warren turns market structure fight into an ethics battle
The attack shifts the CLARITY Act fight beyond the usual debate over SEC-CFTC jurisdiction, digital commodity rules and DeFi oversight. Warren is now framing the bill as an ethics test for lawmakers backing crypto legislation under a Trump White House.
The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to meet in executive session on May 14 at 10:30 a.m. ET in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to consider H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025.
White House adviser fires back at Warren
Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, pushed back sharply on Warren’s statement, mocking the timing of her opposition after Republicans released the 300-page-plus draft.
Witt said he was “so impressed” that Warren had “stayed up all night” to read the full CLARITY Act and deliver what he called an “objective assessment” of the bill, rather than a “knee-jerk reaction.” He added sarcastically: “This is what true public service looks like.”
His response turns the fight into a two-front battle. Warren is arguing that the bill ignores Trump’s crypto conflicts, while the White House side is framing her attack as a rushed political broadside against a long-awaited market structure package. The exchange lands just two days before Senate Banking’s May 14 markup, where the bill is expected to face its first major committee test.
Republicans say the draft is ready to move
Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott, Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis and Senator Thom Tillis released the latest market structure bill text on May 12, saying it will serve as the basis for the committee markup. The Republican statement said the text reflects negotiations with Democrats and input from lawmakers, regulators, law enforcement, financial institutions, innovators and consumer advocates.
Scott said the bill delivers clear rules, consumer safeguards, illicit-finance controls and accountability. Lummis described the text as a step toward giving the digital asset industry regulatory clarity, while Tillis called it a bipartisan compromise that could move toward President Trump’s desk.
What the new CLARITY Act text covers
The draft is aimed at creating a federal framework for digital asset markets. The committee’s section-by-section summary says it defines ancillary assets, creates disclosure requirements, allows a “Regulation Crypto” exemption for certain offerings and places resale limits on insiders to reduce market manipulation and dumping risks.
The text also includes Bank Secrecy Act treatment for digital commodity brokers, dealers and exchanges; DeFi risk-management provisions; rules around offshore stablecoins; a temporary hold framework for suspicious transactions; and a section preserving activity-based stablecoin rewards while banning passive, deposit-like yield on payment stablecoin balances.
Other sections address tokenized securities, software developer protections, NFT safe harbors, self-custody rights and customer property treatment in bankruptcy.
May 14 markup becomes the next test
The immediate question is whether Warren’s ethics attack changes the politics before the May 14 markup. Republicans are presenting the bill as the long-awaited market structure framework for U.S. crypto markets. Warren is arguing that a crypto bill moving under Trump cannot ignore the president’s own financial exposure to the sector.
That makes Thursday’s markup more than a technical committee vote. It becomes the next public test of whether Senate Banking can move crypto legislation forward while Democrats keep the Trump ethics issue at the center of the fight.
