U.S. President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to pass the Clarity Act on Wednesday — and also hinted that the government may accumulate more bitcoin.
After gathering with crypto executives at the White House, President Trump said that getting the Clarity Act over the line would keep the U.S. ahead of China.
Lawmakers were hoping to get a vote on the crypto market structure bill, or Clarity Act, in August. A vote will now go ahead in September. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins.
“We’re ensuring that America remains the undisputed leader in not only Bitcoin and crypto, but also technologies like prediction markets, artificial intelligence and much more,” President Trump said.
He added: “Now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act — a fair version of the Clarity Act — and this landmark structure legislation. It’s a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, and keep us ahead of everyone else.”
When asked if the U.S. government would be accumulating bitcoin, President Trump said: “It’s been talked about — it’s taken a lot of pressure off the dollar, it’s been very, very good for the dollar, and I think if [regulators] came in with recommendations, I would certainly listen.”
President Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve last year. The order states that the U.S. cannot sell any of the bitcoin it has, most of which has been seized in law enforcement operations. But the EO does not commit to buying the asset.
Nevertheless, the president has recently spoken highly of bitcoin: Just last week, Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that “you see people paying with bitcoin and they don’t even know about cash anymore.”
Despite being passed by the House of Representatives last year, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock for most of this year after the banking lobby clashed with lawmakers and crypto businesses over whether platforms like Coinbase should be able to pay customers yield.
Some lawmakers have sought to change wording in the bill regarding ethics. A new bill started circulating in July, banning government officials from promoting and making money from crypto.
Other lawmakers said it still fell short, and a number of pro-crypto Republicans accused Democrats of deliberately playing politics and delaying the bill.