In brief
- President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act during a White House meeting with crypto and finance executives Wednesday.
- Trump said his administration wants clearer rules that allow crypto companies to operate in the U.S. rather than move overseas.
- Executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Robinhood, Kraken and other crypto and financial firms attended the gathering.
President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act Wednesday, telling crypto and finance executives at the White House that market structure legislation is the next step in his administration’s digital asset agenda.
Trump’s comments come ahead of the inaugural meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday. CFTC Chair Michael Selig, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins, and White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt joined Trump at Wednesday’s gathering.
“Now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act, a fair version of the Clarity Act,” Trump said. “It’s a very, very powerful structure legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else. We’ll open the door to the next wave of innovations and innovators.”
The Clarity Act, a sweeping crypto market structure bill that would establish federal rules for digital assets and clarify the SEC and CFTC’s respective authority over the industry, is expected to return to the Senate floor in September after lawmakers left for their August recess without holding a procedural vote. Republicans still need roughly six Democratic votes to reach the 60-vote threshold.
The meeting also included Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith, Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and a16z crypto founder Chris Dixon.
“The people in this room are ensuring that the future of commercial markets is pioneered and perfected right here in the USA,” Trump said. “We're fighting a lot of other countries to control these markets, and to have these markets, and to profit, and all the jobs and everything else created. And we're doing well. We're leading in every aspect, including AI, and we're leading by a lot. And we want to keep it that way.”
Trump said clearer regulation was necessary to keep crypto companies and financial technology development in the U.S. He also criticized the Biden administration’s approach to crypto, accusing it of using regulation and enforcement to drive businesses overseas in Operation Chokepoint 2.0. He pointed to his administration’s strategic Bitcoin reserve, digital asset stockpile, ban on a U.S. central bank digital currency and the GENIUS Act as examples of policies adopted since he returned to office.
“We’re ensuring that America remains the undisputed leader, not only in Bitcoin and crypto, but also technologies like prediction markets, artificial intelligence, and much more,” Trump said. “And we’re leading in every single one.”
Trump also said Selig is working to bring decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid into the U.S.
“I understand that Mike is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion,” Trump said. “Working very hard on that. We would really like to see it.”
The meeting comes as regulators move ahead with crypto policy while broader market structure legislation remains stalled in Congress. The SEC on Tuesday proposed rules that would exempt certain token offerings from securities regulations, potentially making it easier for crypto companies to issue tokens and raise money.
While Trump mentioned prediction markets, executives from major platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket were ultimately not invited. A person familiar with the event told Politico that the White House decided to focus the meeting solely on crypto.
