Reports that the White House has signed off on a key sticking point in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act sent markets higher on Tuesday.
Bitcoin climbed above $66,000 on Tuesday morning, per CoinGecko, hitting a two-week high of $66,284 as a rebound in Asian semiconductor stocks fueled a broader risk rally, with a fresh political development adding fuel to the move.
Bitcoin’s advance has been supported by five straight days of inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs totaling more than $600 million, marking the strongest stretch of institutional buying since mid-July. The political news arrived on top of that momentum.
An industry source told The Block on Monday evening that President Donald Trump has agreed to an ethics provision in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act—the sweeping legislation that would bring comprehensive federal regulation to the cryptocurrency industry for the first time.
“We are now hearing Trump has agreed to an ethics provision,” the source said.
The development was first reported by Eleanor Terrett of Crypto in America and Brendan Pedersen of PunchbowlNews, with Pedersen noting that Democrats had not yet seen the bill text.
News in PBN Texts: The White House, Sens. Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Moreno (R-Ohio) came to an agreement on crypto ethics language on covering President Donald Trump, according to three sources familiar.
The details of the agreement remain elusive, and Democrats have not seen text. pic.twitter.com/7nNv4sQF2d
— Brendan Pedersen (@BrendanPedersen) July 20, 2026
The ethics question has been the central obstacle blocking the Clarity Act from advancing to a Senate floor vote. The bill would set federal crypto trading rules and split oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (SFTC)—agencies that regulate securities markets and derivatives, respectively. Passing it would end years of regulatory uncertainty that has dogged the industry.
The Sticking Point
At the heart of the dispute has been a relatively straightforward question: should the president, vice president, members of Congress, and other senior officials be barred from personally profiting off digital assets while shaping federal crypto policy? Democrats have insisted on enforceable restrictions. The White House, until now, had not agreed to any specific language.
What made the standoff politically awkward was that Trump was personally sitting across the table negotiating the language of a restriction that would apply to him—in a bill governing an industry in which he earned more money last year than perhaps any sitting U.S. president in history.
Trump’s annual financial disclosure, released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, showed his crypto-related income included about $515 million from the sale of tokens released by World Liberty Financial, $65 million from sales of equity in WLF’s holding company, and $635 million in royalties from what were described as “Celebration Coins.” World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance venture co-founded by Trump and members of his family.
Senate Democratic leaders said Trump’s disclosures revealed that unknown “Third Parties” own a stake in World Liberty Financial—a disclosure that came in the wake of reports that the United Arab Emirates had purchased a 49% stake in the company.
That backdrop made ethics safeguards a non-negotiable demand for a number of Democrats whose votes are needed for the bill to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. Sens. Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen publicly flagged concerns about provisions they viewed as insufficiently addressing Trump’s family’s involvement in the digital asset space.
The July 16 Meeting
The reported breakthrough follows a July 16 meeting at the White House between Trump, Republican Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis—two of the bill’s most vocal Senate champions—and White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt. No agreement was reached at that meeting.
Democrats were notably absent from that meeting, which itself became a flashpoint. Democratic senators accused Republicans of keeping them outside recent talks over the ethics provision.
Bill text is now expected in the coming days, after which the full Senate could move to a vote. The window is tight: the Senate departs for its August recess in the first week of August. If the bill passes, it returns to the House before going to Trump’s desk.
One source familiar with the negotiations said on Monday evening that text could come as early as Monday night, but might slip slightly. The longer the wait before text is released, the same source noted, the better the chances of meaningful bipartisan support.
Critics, however, are likely to scrutinize any ethics language that emerges. Most presidents since Jimmy Carter have voluntarily placed their holdings in blind trusts to manage conflicts of interest—a step Trump has not taken. Whether the agreed provision amounts to a meaningful constraint on officials personally invested in the industry it governs, or a compromise designed primarily to secure enough Democratic votes to pass, will become clearer once the bill text is public.
Staff Moves at the White House
The ethics agreement also comes as the White House crypto team faces some transition. Witt, who has led the administration’s legislative push on digital assets, had planned to step away from his post this week for mandatory training with the Georgia Army National Guard — but announced Monday on X that his training had been postponed.
His deputy director, Harry Jung, meanwhile said he would be leaving the job in two weeks.
“Serving in POTUS administration and working for David Sacks in the White House Crypto Council has been a great honor,” Jung wrote on X. “These past two years transformed America’s position on crypto. I’m proud of all we accomplished.”
Polymarket, a prediction market platform, had put the odds of the Clarity Act becoming law in 2026 at roughly 45% as of mid-July. Traders will be watching closely to see whether Monday’s reported breakthrough holds when the actual language is released.