Trump says he won't block a blind trust for family crypto ventures but opposes CLARITY Act provisions he views as targeted. His crypto income topped $1.4B in 2025. The ethics fight could shape stablecoin regulation.
President Donald Trump said he would not oppose placing his family’s cryptocurrency ventures into a qualified blind trust, a shift for a president who has long resisted the ethics structures his predecessors used. The concession comes with a limit: Trump remains opposed to legislative provisions he views as written specifically to target his family’s businesses.
The statement lands as the Senate debates the CLARITY Act, formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025. Democrats have pushed for ethics requirements that would force divestment or blind trusts for officials with large digital asset holdings. Trump’s conditional openness is an attempt to appear cooperative without ceding control, according to people familiar with his thinking.
The scale of the Trump family’s crypto income explains why ethics provisions have become a sticking point. Financial disclosures dated June 30, 2026 show that in 2025 alone, Trump earned between $500 million and $635 million from World Liberty Financial, the crypto company he co-founded with his sons. Meme coin licensing added another $600 million. Combined, the family’s crypto-related income exceeded $1.4 billion in a single year.
World Liberty Financial operates a blockchain-based USD stablecoin called USD1 and has attracted external investment from entities linked to the UAE. The Trump family initially held roughly 60% stakes in the venture, giving them significant control over its direction and profits.
US presidents have placed potentially conflicting assets into independent blind trusts since the 1970s. The mechanism is simple: an independent trustee manages the assets without the president’s knowledge, removing any incentive to tailor policy for personal gain. During his first term, Trump instead transferred business control to his sons through a revocable trust, keeping the assets inside the family’s orbit. A qualified blind trust would go further, requiring a truly independent trustee.
Trump’s stated position is that he does not engage in the day-to-day management of these businesses and delegates that role to his sons. He views a QBT as functionally similar to the current arrangement, a White House official said.
The CLARITY Act has become a fight over how far Congress can go in imposing ethics rules on a sitting president and his family. Senate Democrats want provisions that mandate either full divestment or blind trusts, specifically designed to cover officials with substantial crypto holdings. Trump’s opposition to what he calls targeted legislation reflects a broader argument within his camp: provisions written narrowly enough to capture the Trump family’s business structures amount to bills of attainder, legislation designed to punish specific individuals rather than set general rules.
One critical detail in the current legislation: the ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act may expire in 2029. That built-in sunset clause means even if the strictest version passes, the requirements could lapse, potentially before the end of a second Trump term.
The stablecoin market adds another layer of complexity. USD1, WLF’s stablecoin, operates in a space Congress is actively trying to regulate through multiple bills. Any stablecoin legislation could directly affect the value and viability of the Trump family’s flagship crypto product, creating an unusually direct link between presidential policy preferences and personal financial outcomes.
No new legislation specifically targeting the family’s crypto interests has passed as of early August 2026. The CLARITY Act remains the primary vehicle for addressing these concerns. Its final form will depend on whether Trump’s conditional acceptance of a blind trust satisfies enough Senate votes to move the bill forward.
For broader context on the regulatory push around digital assets, see our crypto market analysis.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.