Trump Pushes CLARITY Act as Bitcoin Surges: Is Crypto Finally Getting the Rules It Needs?

Bitcoin’s reemergence toward $80,000 has coincided with another potentially vital development for the crypto industry: president Donald Trump is pushing the Senate to complete the CLARITY Act.

At a White House event on August 19, Trump was calling for lawmakers to pass comprehensive crypto market-structure legislation that would allow the U.S. to overtake China in digital assets. Bitcoin then surged above $80,000 for the first time since May, though regulatory optimism was only one factor behind the rally.

Related: Senate Crypto Bill Under Fire: How Banking Lobbyists Are Fighting the CLARITY Act

What Is the CLARITY Act?

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was previously passed by the House of Representatives with a bipartisan 294-134 vote in July 2025.

Its central aim is to divide the responsibility for crypto markets more clearly between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The bill would have digital assets classified as securities regulated primarily by the SEC and digital commodities and spot markets fall largely under the CFTC.

That may sound simple, but it would entail a major change.

The CFTC already regulates derivatives involving Bitcoin and other digital commodities, but its jurisdiction over spot crypto markets has historically been limited. Meanwhile, the SEC has spent years arguing through enforcement cases that many token sales and crypto businesses fell under existing securities law.