Trump agreed to new ethics rules to get a crypto bill across the line. But that might not be enough

President Donald Trump has been under pressure for weeks to agree to ethics provisions that would apply to him personally, as the Senate works on a sweeping cryptocurrency bill. To get the bill passed, Trump agreed to a measure that would bar him and his wife from issuing meme coins while in office. Later, he also consented to a tougher ethics proposal demanded by key senators.

However, the fate of the bill hangs on whether Trump's sign-offs go far enough, as a vote against the Clarity Act would be seen as a stand against crypto investments rather than a principled stance against Trump. The bill's authors, led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, aim to bring digital assets into the mainstream by imposing conflict-of-interest restrictions on all federally elected officials and their spouses.

Trump's crypto holdings, which reportedly amounted to over $500 million in sales from his sons' cryptocurrency venture, have complicated the legislative process. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno met with Trump in July, and he agreed to abide by conflict-of-interest restrictions, barring himself and his wife from issuing digital assets.

However, senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis later proposed that Trump's crypto holdings should be placed in a blind trust and divested when they reach a certain value, along with allowing state attorneys general to enforce the law. This additional proposal could force Trump to divest from his ventures, such as World Liberty Financial, which reported over $500 million in revenue from crypto product sales.