The US crypto rulebook gets a new draft — what the CLARITY Act would actually change

US Senate Republicans released a new 616-page draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on July 22, the long-stalled bill meant to set federal rules for how cryptocurrency is regulated in the United States. The headline change is an ethics section that would bar the president, members of Congress, and other senior federal officials, along with their spouses, from issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets while in office.

For a beginner, the bill matters less for its politics than for what it tries to settle: which US regulator oversees crypto, the long-running question of the SEC versus the CFTC; what rules exchanges must follow; and what protections everyday users get. Supporters say it would finally give the industry legal clarity. The draft also adds consumer-protection language and bankruptcy rules stating that customer assets stay customer property if an exchange or custodian fails, a direct response to the Celsius and FTX collapses.

The ethics section is the fight. It follows disclosures that President Donald Trump earned more than $1.2 billion from crypto ventures in 2025. The proposed ban would expire on January 20, 2029, the end of the current presidential term, and would not cover officials' children, a gap critics note because Trump's sons help run the family's World Liberty Financial. Enforcement would fall to the Justice Department rather than state prosecutors, which several Democrats have called a dealbreaker.

The draft also keeps the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which says software developers who do not hold users' funds are not "money transmitters" subject to heavy compliance rules. Much of the industry treats that as a red line for keeping development legal and onshore. It has opposition too: law-enforcement groups and a coalition of Catholic leaders warn the protections could weaken safeguards against money laundering and human trafficking.

Whether any of this becomes law is unsettled. The bill needs 60 Senate votes, meaning roughly 10 Democrats would have to sign on, and many say the current ethics language is not strong enough. The Senate breaks for its summer recess in early August, so the coming days are widely seen as the last realistic window to advance the bill this year.

One thing to keep in mind: a draft is not a law, and this text is likely to change again. If it does pass, the parts most likely to touch you are the consumer and bankruptcy protections, not the political headlines. It is worth watching, but there is no action to take today, and any pitch claiming this bill will send a particular coin soaring is noise, not information.