President Donald Trump has re-entered the US crypto market-structure debate, saying his administration will codify a “future-proof” framework for digital assets as a Senate fight over the CLARITY Act moves closer. The message ties the White House’s crypto agenda to legislation that would define regulatory boundaries for digital assets, exchanges, custodians, stablecoins and derivatives markets.
In a Truth Social post highlighted by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, Trump framed the issue as a reversal of the Gary Gensler era and a bid to make US crypto policy harder for future regulators to unwind. Terrett said the post marked the first time Trump had publicly weighed in on market structure since March, making the timing notable after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act earlier this month.
“Gary Gensler and the ‘Anti-Crypto Army’ nearly DESTROYED the American Crypto Industry by driving Bitcoin, Crypto Perpetuals, and INNOVATION offshore, but ‘TRUMP’ SAVED IT. America is now the CRYPTO CAPITAL of the WORLD, and Builders and Entrepreneurs are coming BACK to the United States where they belong. Under my Leadership, we will codify a FUTURE-PROOF Digital Asset Market Structure that cannot be undone by the Crypto Haters.”
?NEW: President Trump says his administration is building a “future-proof” digital asset market structure that can’t be undone by “crypto haters.”
This marks the first time the president has publicly weighed in on crypto market structure since March. pic.twitter.com/7FNN06Vasy
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) May 27, 2026
The post was quickly echoed by CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who wrote that, “Thanks to @POTUS’ leadership, America is the Crypto Capital of the World. Bitcoin, Crypto Perpetuals, and INNOVATION are Coming to America.”
In Washington, “market structure” is shorthand for the legal architecture that determines whether crypto assets are treated as securities or commodities, which agencies supervise them, and how trading platforms, brokers, dealers, custodians and issuers are regulated. For crypto markets, the stakes are substantial: the framework would shape registration pathways, disclosures, custody rules, consumer protection, AML obligations and market integrity standards.
The broader policy direction has been visible since Trump’s Jan. 23, 2025 executive order, which called for support for digital asset growth, self-custody, public blockchain access, dollar-backed stablecoins, fair banking access and clearer jurisdictional lines between regulators. The White House’s July 2025 digital asset working group report later recommended that Congress build on CLARITY by giving the CFTC authority over spot markets for non-security digital assets, while directing the SEC and CFTC to clarify rules for registration, custody, trading and recordkeeping.
The stablecoin leg of that agenda has already become law. Trump signed the GENIUS Act on July 18, 2025, with the White House describing it as the first federal regulatory system for stablecoins. The law includes 100% reserve backing with liquid assets such as dollars or short-term Treasuries, monthly public reserve disclosures, marketing restrictions and priority claims for stablecoin holders in insolvency.
The unresolved fight is the broader market-structure package. The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, in July 2025 by a bipartisan 294–134 vote. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version on May 14, 2026, in a 15–9 vote, sending the bill toward the Senate floor. The committee vote drew support from two Democrats, though those lawmakers did not commit to backing the final bill.
Crypto’s CLARITY Act Heads Toward Senate Fight
The Senate version would create a category for ancillary assets, require initial and semiannual disclosures for certain transactions, and introduce a “Regulation Crypto” exemption from SEC registration for some ancillary asset offerings. It would also treat digital commodity brokers, dealers and exchanges as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, bringing AML programs, customer identification and due diligence into the framework.
Trump’s reference to “crypto perpetuals” points to another piece of the agenda: bringing offshore derivatives activity into regulated US venues. Selig said in January that perpetual contracts had become widely used for risk management and price discovery, while arguing that the previous administration failed to create an onshore pathway for those products. He also said the CFTC would explore rules for leveraged, margined or financed retail crypto commodity transactions and a possible new registration category for retail leveraged trading.
The bill still faces opposition. Critics have argued that AML provisions are too weak, that political officials should be restricted from profiting from crypto ventures, and that expanded CFTC authority may not fully address investor-protection concerns traditionally handled by the SEC. Bank groups have also focused on stablecoin-yield language, warning that crypto firms could compete for deposits through rewards on stablecoin balances.
The timing is becoming a legislative risk in its own right. The CLARITY Act has cleared the Senate Banking Committee, but it has not yet secured a full Senate vote, and any final package still has to survive unresolved fights over AML rules, stablecoin rewards, political-conflict provisions and the division of authority between the SEC and CFTC.
The bill also has to fit into a shrinking Senate calendar, with lawmakers facing summer recess, a fall campaign break and the Nov. 3 midterm elections. That leaves a narrowing window for Republicans and pro-crypto Democrats to turn committee momentum into final passage before election politics make a complex market-structure bill harder to move.
At press time, the total market cap stood at $2.43 trillion.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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