Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has blasted the Clarity Act draft bill, claiming it would allow criminals and cartels to move money.
Speaking in a video statement on X Wednesday, Warren hinted that the potential law would allow President Donald Trump to make money from crypto.
Lawmakers are currently mulling over the latest draft of the Clarity Act, which aims to set in stone digital asset regulation. The latest draft bans officials and their families from issuing or promoting crypto.
“This latest draft bill would make it easier for criminals, oh, and cartels and terrorists to move money and finance their operations — and it fails to protect investors and our financial system,” Warren said in the video.
“It’s going to a vote on the floor. There’s a glaring omission: it does not stop Donald Trump from cashing in on his presidency.”
“This isn’t regulation — this is a giveaway. This bill should be dead on arrival,” added Warren.
But X users added clarification to Warren’s video, highlighting that the Senate GOP’s updated draft includes ethics provisions banning federal officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
Trump’s crypto ventures
Warren has long been a crypto critic, initially arguing that billions of dollars go missing every year thanks to tax dodging crypto users.
Most recently, Warren has called for a probe into the Trump family’s top crypto ventures.
President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto space but some Washington lawmakers have criticized the way the Trump family has profited from digital asset ventures, such as the Republican’s meme coin, TRUMP, and World Liberty Financial project.
Trump and the White House have always denied any conflicts of interest.
Latest Clarity Bill
Senate Republicans began circulating new text of the bill this week, ahead of a possible floor vote.
US banking representatives, regulators and crypto bigwigs have been meeting at the White House to work on the Clarity Act since last year.
The bill was passed by the House of Representatives but banking chiefs raised concerns over stablecoins and the yield they will potentially pay customers.
Banking representatives have warned they could lose their deposit base and, in turn, their ability to lend to U.S. businesses if companies are allowed to pay rewards on stablecoins.
On Thursday, Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon became one of the first big bankers to throw his support behind the bill.
