Why the Crypto Industry Is More Reliant Than Ever on Trump -- Barrons.com

By Joe Light

With the chances of Congress passing an industry friendly bill this year slipping away, crypto firms are more dependent than ever on President Donald Trump and his regulators.

On Wednesday, top crypto executives will make their case directly to the president in Washington.

The meeting is expected to include top officials from the government, tech and crypto worlds. Coinbase Global CEO Brian Armstrong is slated to be there, as is Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, among other crypto executives, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The President will host an event with tech leaders tomorrow to strengthen America's innovative and technological dominance," a White House official said.

The White House event is happening the day before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission holds the first meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee, which Chairman Michael Selig formed in January. The CFTC meeting is expected to focus on crypto, prediction markets and artificial intelligence.

The agenda of the White House meeting is less clear, but representatives of some companies participating told Barron's that they plan to make at least one more push for the so-called Clarity Act, a crypto bill that the Senate plans to vote on in mid-September. The bill, which would put most crypto trading under the purview of the CFTC, stalled earlier this month.

The "discussion is about finishing what the Trump administration started: giving American markets the regulatory certainty that keeps innovation and investment here-not offshore," said Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad in a statement. "The Clarity Act turns that vision into lasting law, and we're confident Congress will pass it to keep America at the center of the 21st-century financial system."

Moving the Clarity Act across the finish line is a long-shot this year. Democrats have opposed the bill in part because of Trump's own crypto investments. World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm that Trump co-founded, received a critical banking approval from Trump's Treasury Department last week, which will increase pressure on Democrats to hold the line on strengthening ethics provisions of the bill.

Before the Senate left on its August recess, some Republicans also said they opposed the bill on concerns expressed by community bankers that it would encourage deposits to leave for crypto accounts. The Republican hesitancy is something Trump can help with, but since the bill would need at least 60 votes to avoid a Senate filibuster, it won't be enough unless Democrats give up some of their demands.

If Clarity remains stuck, crypto firms will be even more reliant on the Securities and Exchange Commission, CFTC and Trump to give them through regulation what Congress is unable to deliver.

The SEC on Tuesday proposed rules to give firms guidance on how to raise money through crypto token offerings. It's also expected to released a separate plan that could pave the way for tokenized stocks, bonds and other traditional assets.

Rules can take months to years to be proposed and finalized. With a little more than two years left in the Trump administration, it will be important to crypto firms for the regulators to get going on the proposals lest a less crypto-friendly president enter the White House.

Even then, a new SEC could decide to reverse course, but finalized rules take time to undo, and agencies are generally reluctant to dramatically change the rules if the industry has already adapted to them.

Write to Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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August 19, 2026 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)