Crypto's seven-figure ad blitz targets banks, but CLARITY's fate hinges on Trump ethics
With the Sept. 15 Senate cloture vote approaching, the crypto industry has launched a seven-figure cable ad campaign to rescue the CLARITY Act. But the real roadblock is the ethics standoff over President Trump's family crypto profits, not bank opposition.
There are pigs eating from a trough on cable TV right now, courtesy of the crypto lobby. The Cedar Innovation Foundation, tied to the Fairshake network, is spending seven figures on three spots ahead of the Sept. 15 Senate cloture vote on the CLARITY Act. One ad accuses banks of enjoying a profit "feeding frenzy" while blocking competition. The other two push consumer protection and outside support. The campaign is a last-ditch effort to reach 60 votes.
But the ads may be aimed at the wrong enemy. The bank fight, mostly over stablecoin rewards and smaller lenders scared of losing deposits, has eased. The bill's actual choke point is political: what Congress should do about President Trump and his family's crypto profits. Republican Sens. Mike Rounds and Thom Tillis aren't hiding the math. Two Democratic aides say there's been little progress on their ethics demand. The White House pushes back, saying Trump has agreed to the strongest ethics language in history. Somewhere in that gap, 60 votes are supposed to materialize.
Reading the legislative tea leaves, the advertising looks less like a pressure tool and more like a signal that negotiations are stalling. After all, the National Sheriffs' Association dropped its opposition last week. Law-enforcement groups are already on board, and AARP backs a specific crypto ATM fraud provision, though not the whole bill. The industry cleared those hurdles and still can't seal the deal.
There's also a calendar problem. The House has cancelled voting weeks in late September, so even a Senate win would likely push final passage past the November midterms. Sen. Cynthia Lummis warns that a failure this year could leave the next realistic window in 2030. She may be overstating it, but the trend lines aren't good.
My take: spending seven figures to portray banks as pigs is politically fun, but it won't move a single Democratic vote on an ethics clause. The question now is whether the White House is willing to offer terms Democrats can defend. Until that happens, the CLARITY Act is stuck, and no amount of cable TV money changes the calculus.