White House crypto adviser defends Trump’s crypto ties after Clarity Act defeat
Adviser pushes back on political use of Trump’s crypto links
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said on Wednesday that Democrats are turning President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings into a political weapon after the Senate rejected the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
Key takeaways
- Witt accused Democrats of double standards, pointing to a housing bill that passed without strict ethics rules.
- He said Trump agreed to two unprecedented ethics provisions that would have required him to divest crypto assets or place them in a blind trust and allowed state attorneys general to sue the federal government for ethics lapses.
- The adviser blamed banking lobbyists for opposing the bill, arguing that stablecoin rewards could threaten bank deposits.
- With the bill stalled, Witt said the focus is now on federal regulators such as the SEC.
What Witt said at Georgetown
Speaking at the Financial Markets Quality conference at Georgetown University, Witt claimed Democrats were “disingenuous” for singling out Trump while other legislation, like a recent housing bill, faced no similar ethics scrutiny.
He described the two ethics provisions Trump reportedly agreed to as “the most unprecedented, far‑reaching, stringent, restrictive ethics provision that has ever been agreed to by any president.”
Witt also noted that many senators on banking committees own and trade stocks in the financial services firms they oversee, calling the criticism of Trump “somewhat ironic.”
Legislative outcome
The Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act last week. The bill aimed to set clear rules for the cryptocurrency market, but negotiations stalled over an ethics debate unrelated to its core market‑structure provisions.
Next steps according to the adviser
At a CoinDesk Policy & Regulation event, Witt said the lame‑duck congressional session at the end of the year is not a priority. He indicated that efforts will now shift to federal regulators, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission, to address the policy gaps.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.
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