On May 4, the White House expressed its hope that Congress will send the Clarity Act to the President’s desk before July 4. This cryptocurrency market structure bill passed the House of Representatives in July 2025 by a vote of 294 to 134, but has been stalled in the Senate for nearly a year.
Senator Tim Scott’s Banking Committee has set a target to complete the markup within May, aiming for a full Senate vote in June or July. Blocking progress is a provision demanded by Democratic lawmakers—a “ethics clause” prohibiting senior government officials from profiting personally from cryptocurrency assets during their tenure. This provision is directly targeted at the president.
Two days later, on May 6, E*Trade, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, opened spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana to 8.6 million retail investors at a fee of 0.50%—the lowest retail crypto fee currently offered by mainstream Wall Street brokers. Even before the bill has passed, traditional major banks have already gotten started.
Congress may be waiting for the bill, but Wall Street has already given its answer.
Wall Street has already opened for business.
The bill has not yet been passed, but traditional brokerages have already entered en masse between April and May 2026, driving retail trading fees to a new low.
Here is the timeline: On February 22, 2018, Robinhood became the first retail online brokerage to add cryptocurrency trading, launching with zero commissions (including spreads). Later that year, Coinbase launched its retail app with fees ranging from 0.99% to 2.99% plus a 0.5% spread. In 2022, Coinbase introduced Advanced Trade, reducing retail fees to 0.40%–0.60%. In 2023, Fidelity Crypto launched with a 1% fee. Then came two years of silence.
In early April 2026, Charles Schwab launched Schwab Crypto, gradually opening spot trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum to retail investors at a fee of 0.75%. One month later, on May 6, Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade followed suit with a 0.50% fee, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. According to BeInCrypto, this represents the lowest current fee for retail cryptocurrency trading offered by major traditional financial institutions.
Comparing the fee structures reveals the pressure: Coinbase’s standard app typically charges retail users 0.99%–2.99% plus a 0.5% spread, resulting in an effective cost of 1.5%–3.5%. E*Trade’s 0.5% fee cuts that number to one-third. Fidelity’s 1% fee makes it the most expensive among peers. Coinbase Advanced Trade remains competitive, but it’s a professional interface designed for high-frequency and high-net-worth users—not the retail choice for average散户.
Why are operations concentrated in April–May 2026? Two key milestones. First, the GENIUS Act—the stablecoin regulatory framework—was signed into law in July 2025, providing a clear legal pathway for traditional financial institutions to custody and settle stablecoins. Second, the Clarity Act is soon to enter Senate markup; regardless of the final outcome, the overarching structure of the mainstream market is now clear, and major institutions no longer fear regulatory retroactivity after entering. Wall Street is making decisions based on the probability that the Clarity Act will pass, not waiting for its final signature.
The ethics clause is meant to block the president.
The ethical provisions requested by Democratic lawmakers have been repeatedly submitted to the White House since 2025 and repeatedly rejected. The reasons are not abstract. According to Bloomberg in January 2026, approximately one-fifth of the Trump family’s $6.8 billion fortune directly stems from cryptocurrency projects.
Break down these projects for a more detailed view. The realized cash flow amounts to approximately $1.47 billion, primarily from four products. The token sale of World Liberty Financial (WLFI) was the largest contributor, with the Trump family accumulating approximately $1 billion in profits from this DeFi project as of December 2025, including $550 million raised through the public offering.
The $TRUMP memecoin launched three days before the January 2025 inauguration, generating $362 million in fees and trading profits for the family. Melania’s $MELANIA memecoin followed closely, contributing approximately $65 million. The reserve interest from the USD1 stablecoin amounted to $42 million.
Unrealized position valuation is approximately $2.8 billion. WLFI also has $1.5 billion in unsold tokens outstanding on its books, but this amount is highly sensitive to fluctuations in WLFI’s price. According to FinanceFeeds, Trump Media’s Bitcoin reserves are estimated between 9,500 and 11,500 BTC, worth approximately $840 million at current Bitcoin prices. The valuation of the USD1 business and equity stakes such as American Bitcoin Mining total approximately $460 million.
Combined, the realized and unrealized amounts total approximately $4.3 billion. This is the actual figure at stake. The version championed by Senator Elizabeth Warren and others explicitly stated, “Prohibit current senior officials from personally profiting from cryptocurrency assets during their tenure,” but the compromised version was sent to the White House and then sent back. Whether the bill proceeds to a full Senate vote with this provision hinges on each senator’s willingness to publicly cast a vote that directly cuts the president’s family out of this $4.3 billion.
Will CLARITY pass this year?
The Clarity Act forces all digital assets into three categories. The first category is "digital commodities," regulated by the CFTC, and corresponds to tokens operating on "mature blockchain systems." The Act defines "maturity" with two strict criteria: first, the network must have full functionality and be capable of reaching consensus; second, it must be sufficiently decentralized, with no single entity able to unilaterally modify the protocol or governance.
The second pool is "Investment Contract Assets," regulated by the SEC, and includes tokens representing equity, debt, or similar rights, such as tokenized stocks, traditional securities distributed on-chain, and RWA (real estate, notes, accounts receivable). The third pool is payment stablecoins, overseen by banking regulators, requiring compliance with capital, custody, and anti-manipulation standards.
Compared to FIT21, which died in the Senate in 2024, the Clarity Act includes three key upgrades. The classification of stablecoins has changed from “left unspecified” to “allocated by platform”: stablecoin trading on CFTC-regulated platforms falls under CFTC jurisdiction, while trading on SEC-regulated platforms falls under SEC jurisdiction, though the SEC retains only anti-fraud authority.
DeFi exemptions have shifted from a principle-based safe harbor to a list-based specification of exempted activities; three actions—operating a custodial frontend, running a node, and releasing code—will not trigger registration obligations. Exchange registration has changed from “inter-agency coordination” to a mandatory requirement for intermediaries dealing in digital assets to undergo dual registration, even if such intermediaries are already SEC-registered broker-dealers.
The logic of the bill is clear: to permanently resolve the greatest uncertainty in the crypto industry over the past few years—namely, “who exactly regulates this”—by codifying it into law.
The Clarity Act stands alone, with few peers ahead of it.
According to public statements from Representative French Hill’s office, more than 40 cryptocurrency and blockchain-related bills were introduced during the 116th Congress (2019–2020), none of which became law. The FIT21 bill emerged in the 118th Congress (2023–2024) and passed the House of Representatives in May 2024. It was the first cryptocurrency market structure bill to pass a full House vote, but it ultimately stalled in the Senate.
On July 18, 2025, Trump signed the GENIUS Act, establishing legal framework for payment stablecoins. This is the first and, to date, the only cryptocurrency-related federal bill to become law in six years. On July 17 of the same month, the House of Representatives passed the Clarity Act by a vote of 294 to 134. The Clarity Act has theoretically reached the same stage as FIT21 did that year—passed by the House and awaiting a Senate vote.
The difference lies in the political environment. During the FIT21 period, the Democratic Party controlled the White House, and there was no top-level momentum for crypto legislation; now, the Trump administration is publicly pushing hard. However, a compromised version of the ethical provisions was rejected by the White House, and key Democratic lawmakers have still not been convinced. If the first week of August passes without action, the Senate will adjourn until September 14. Considering the midterm elections on November 3, whether the bill can be signed into law within 2026 is no longer solely up to the White House’s willingness.
Under historical precedent, over 50 bills in six years, only one became law. Is the Clarity Act the second? The outcome will be clear in the next two months.