Key Highlights:
- Donald Trump said major banks are attempting to undermine U.S. crypto legislation and weaken the Clarity Act push.
- The stalled Clarity Act aims to define regulatory oversight for digital assets but remains delayed in the Senate.
- Trump warned that continued delays could push crypto innovation toward rival economies such as China.
US President Donald Trump has called out major banks this week, and accused them of trying to weaken the Clarity Act which was intended to regulate the crypto sector. His comments also come amid lawmakers’ debate over how to pursue the next phase of crypto policy, as the Clarity Act continues to sit in the Senate.
Trump said the same in a post on Truth Social, in which he cautioned that banks were attempting to thwart the government’s broader crypto agenda. According to his post, financial institutions are trying to slow progress on new rules that would bring greater clarity to the crypto industry.
Donald Trump Weighed In on Clarity Act Delay
“The Genius Act is being threatened and undermined by the banks, and that is unacceptable,” Trump wrote. He added that his administration would not allow financial institutions to derail the regulatory plan that has already begun to take shape.
On the other end of this argument is the GENIUS Act, which Trump signed into law last year. The act established the first federal scheme for regulating stablecoins in the US. Stablecoins are cryptos, usually linked to an alternate, traditional currency, say the US dollar, that are heavily utilized on crypto trading sites. And lawmakers for the first time have started concentrating more broadly on rules of market structure specific to the crypto business.
The next point of that conversation should involve the Clarity Act, a bill trying out how kinds of digital assets are regulated and what agencies should oversee them. The proposal is still under discussion in the Senate. Drafts that compete with one another from several committees have bogged progress, and left the legislation without a final draft that might be up for a vote.
Trump called on lawmakers to speed up the process and finalize the larger regulatory structure. Clear rules would enhance the United States’ role in the global cryptocurrency economy and create more financial opportunities for Americans, he argued.
“The U.S. needs to get Market Structure done, ASAP,” Trump wrote in his statement. He also argued that stronger crypto policies helps with greater returns on investors’ savings as the country expands its role in the crypto sector.
Trump added major banks continue to report strong earnings but also oppose laws that could bring greater transparency to the digital asset market.
“The banks are hitting record profits, and we are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful crypto agenda,” he wrote.
The political dispute reflects a broader debate over how digital assets should be regulated in the US.
Lawmakers, regulators, financial institutions and crypto companies have taken divergent stances about how the sector should be governed. Trump also cautioned that ongoing delays in passing the Clarity Act could drive crypto innovation toward competing economies (especially China) . Confusion around US regulations may encourage companies to move or release new products in jurisdictions with clearer policies, Trump said.
The president positioned the GENIUS Act as the first step in a broader push to establish the US as a global leader in crypto markets. Passing the Clarity Act, he said, would provide the regulatory base necessary to help grow the industry here. For their part, Trump called on banks, and crypto companies, to come together, instead of fighting. Financial institutions will need to partner with digital asset companies as new regulatory standards emerge, he added.
“The banks should not be trying to undercut the Genius Act or hold the Clarity Act hostage,” he wrote.
Trump added that the crypto sector is approaching a period of broader adoption, suggesting that clearer rules could help accelerate that process.
Addressing this persistent delay, former chairman of the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Christopher Giancarlo, recently shared that the banking industry has more to gain from the stalled Clarity Act than the crypto industry.
Giancarlo added, “Their general counsels are telling their boards: You can’t invest billions of dollars to build these digital rails unless you’ve got regulatory certainty. Banks can’t afford regulatory uncertainty.”
Giancarlo, too, warned that if banks resist the bill, crypto will continue to build anyway, and might even move offshore.
Also Read: Clarity Act Advances as Fed Leadership Uncertainty Hits Crypto
