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U.S. Senate considers adding ethics provisions to crypto bill… Trump conflict-of-interest concerns emerge as key issue
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Summary
- The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee said that ahead of a vote on a digital-asset market-structure bill, an amendment was submitted to include the Digital Asset Ethics Act, which would restrict digital-asset trading by senior public officials, including the president.
- The amendment was described as reflecting conflict-of-interest concerns tied to the Trump family’s involvement in crypto businesses, its 20% stake in American Bitcoin, and an estimated roughly $1.4 billion in income via World Liberty Financial, among other ventures.
- Passing the bill in the Senate requires 60 votes, making Democratic cooperation essential, and issues such as staffing the CFTC, enforcement capacity and political balance are also emerging as key points of contention.
As the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee heads toward a vote next week on a market-structure bill for digital assets, an ethics provision that would restrict digital-asset trading by senior public officials, including the president, has emerged as a subject of additional deliberation. Political conflict-of-interest concerns appear to be taking center stage in the legislative process.
According to The Block on the 23rd (local time), the Senate Agriculture Committee received multiple amendments to the digital-asset market-structure bill ahead of next week’s scheduled hearing and vote. Among them, Sen. Michael Bennet submitted an amendment to incorporate the “Digital Asset Ethics Act,” which would prohibit “covered individuals”—including the president, vice president and members of Congress—from participating in certain digital-asset financial transactions.
The amendment is seen as reflecting concerns among Democrats that President Donald Trump and his family are involved in digital-asset businesses. Bloomberg estimated that Trump has generated about $1.4 billion in income through decentralized finance and the stablecoin project World Liberty Financial, among others. The Trump family also holds a 20% stake in the Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin.
Other amendments were also submitted. Some senators proposed provisions to prevent fraudulent transactions at digital-asset kiosks, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar filed an amendment that would prevent future crypto-related legislation from taking effect until at least four commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have been appointed.
The CFTC currently has only one sitting member—Chair Michael Selig—out of its maximum five commissioners. The issue of filling the commission’s seats has been cited as a major point of contention among lawmakers concerned about enforcement capacity and political balance.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is led by Chairman John Boozman, a Republican. While releasing a draft of the bill last week, he said “there are still disagreements on fundamental policy issues.” Boozman added, “It’s disappointing we didn’t reach full agreement, but the collaborative process improved the quality of the legislation.”
The digital-asset market-structure bill will need 60 votes to pass the Senate, making Democratic cooperation essential. Unlike the Senate Agriculture Committee—long viewed as relatively conducive to bipartisan cooperation—discussions in the Senate Banking Committee recently stalled after Coinbase withdrew its support, citing issues such as tokenized equities, DeFi and stablecoin rewards.
