The American crypto law which was supposed to finally “bring order” today looks like a rocket ready to take off… with a pin stuck. This pin is an ethics clause. And it can be enough to derail everything else. In short: Democratic senators demand safeguards against conflicts of interest. Without that, they threaten to withdraw their votes. Ruben Gallego even speaks of a “red line”.
In brief
- In the United States, Democratic senators are demanding ethical safeguards in the crypto market structure law, otherwise they will withdraw their votes.
- They want to prevent public officials from profiting financially from links with industry, what they call a “red line”.
- Without this addition, the text risks getting stuck in the Senate and further postponing the major regulatory clarification expected by the sector.
The angry little line: ethics before technology
On paper, the project seems technical: define who regulates what, and give more clarity to the market crypto. But the battle has moved elsewhere: who benefits from the law while it is written.
The core of blocking is simple to understand. Democrats want to prevent public officials, including the president, from benefit directly or indirectly links with crypto companies or projects affected by future regulations. Not to mention that the US mid-term elections could block Trump's agenda.
It's not a fad that came out of nowhere. Adam Schiff had already made a proposal in 2025 dedicated to these questions (the COIN Act) to limit the “financial exploitation” of digital assets by officials and their relatives. The idea: to cut short the temptation of “I legislate, I win”. And that's where it gets explosive. Because a market law, without political trust, is just a well-formatted draft.
Why this fault can bring down the entire castle
We are talking here about a “crypto market structure” text, in other words the framework: classification, supervision, responsibilities. The House has already moved forward by adopting the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) THE July 17, 2025 (294–134), then the text was received in the Senate on September 18, 2025.
However, in the Senate, the calendar was mistreated by pure politics. The discussions suffered the shock of a 43-day federal shutdown in the fall of 2025, which slowed down or froze a lot of legislative work.
Today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott discussed a markup (the stage where we amend and vote in committee). But there was public confusion about the calendar display at the time of the first declarations.
Translation into Washington language: if the majority wants to move quickly, it must secure votes. And if some of the Democrats say “without an ethics clause, it's no”, everything could get blocked again.
The most ironic thing is that this ethical battle is not a “moral bonus”. For the cryptothis is almost the main subject.
What crypto really risks: a law, then permanent suspicion
The sector crypto has been calling for regulatory clarity for years. But a law that passes with the smell of conflict of interest stuck to the paper is a poisoned chalice. Because it becomes attackable: politically, mediatically, legally.
It's also a question of lifespan. American crypto texts are already subject to electoral weather Add to that a symbolic element: Cynthia Lummis, pro-crypto figure and historical support of the approach, is not running again and will leave the Senate in January 2027. Political support can therefore change hands, and therefore tone.
Finally, this “flaw” reveals a truth that many refuse to face: the crypto doesn't just have a period problem. She has a story problem. When the general public believes that the game is rigged, they do not read the legal definitions. He picks up.
If Congress wants a law that stands up, it will have to decide: either ethics remains a convenient blind spot, or it becomes the safety belt of the text, the one that prevents it from exploding at the first political turbulence.
And while Washington debates safeguards, France recalls another, more down-to-earth reality: trust is not lost only in the chambers. The tax authorities could have weakened the confidentiality of certain crypto holders, and this kind of suspicion is enough to chill an entire market.
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