US Administration Steps In as Crypto Market Bill Stalls in Congress

The U.S. administration will coordinate policy with the industry this week as Congress stalls on the CLARITY Act, a bill setting the market structure for cryptocurrencies.

President Donald Trump is expected to attend a White House meeting on the 19th, local time, bringing together executives from the cryptocurrency, prediction market and artificial intelligence sectors, crypto news outlet CoinDesk reported on the 16th. The meeting is set to discuss policy direction for major U.S. innovation industries, including crypto, prediction markets and AI. People briefed on the preparations said attendees have been informed of Trump's plan to take part.

Chief executives from crypto and prediction market firms such as Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket and Kalshi are expected to attend. Executives from traditional financial market infrastructure firms — CME Group, Nasdaq, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — may also be present. On the government side, potential attendees include CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Innovation Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting on the 20th, a day after the White House gathering. Executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket and Kalshi — those expected at the White House meeting — recently joined the CFTC panel. The theme of the first session that day is "The Evolution of Crypto Regulation: From Uncertainty to Clarity." Agenda items include "the remaining tasks for establishing a sustainable federal market structure." The move is seen as an effort by the CFTC to explore ways to fill the legislative gap within its own authority after the U.S. Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act before its August recess.