On May 4, the White House expressed its desire for Congress to send the Clarity Act to the President’s desk before July 4. This landmark crypto market structure bill passed the House in July 2025 by a vote of 294 to 134 but has stalled in the Senate for nearly a year.

The Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Tim Scott, has set a target to complete markup within May, aiming to bring the bill to full Senate floor vote in June or July. The main obstacle is Democratic senators’ demand to include an "ethics provision" banning senior government officials from profiting personally from crypto assets during their tenure—directly targeting the President himself.

Two days later, on May 6, E*Trade, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, opened spot trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana to 8.6 million retail investors at a rate of 0.50%—the lowest fee currently offered by mainstream Wall Street brokerages to retail crypto users. The bill hasn’t passed yet, but traditional financial giants have already moved first.

Whether Congress waits for legislation or not, Wall Street has already answered.

Wall Street Has Already Opened Its Doors

Even before the bill passes, traditional brokerages are entering the market in early 2026, concentrating their rollout between April and May and driving retail fees to a new floor.

The timeline unfolds as follows: On February 22, 2018, Robinhood became the first retail internet brokerage to integrate crypto trading with zero commissions (including spreads). That same year, Coinbase launched its retail app with fees ranging from 0.99% to 2.99%, plus a 0.5% spread. In 2022, Coinbase introduced Advanced Trade, reducing retail fees to 0.40%–0.60%. In 2023, Fidelity Crypto launched with a 1% fee. Then came two years of stagnation.

In early April 2026, Charles Schwab launched Schwab Crypto, gradually rolling out spot trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum to retail investors at 0.75%. One month later, on May 6, Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade followed suit with a 0.50% fee covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. According to BeInCrypto, this marks the lowest current fee among traditional major banks for retail crypto trading.

A fee comparison reveals the pressure. Coinbase’s standard retail app typically charges 0.99%–2.99% plus a 0.5% spread—equivalent to an effective cost of 1.5%–3.5%. E*Trade’s 0.50% fee cuts that number down to one-third. Fidelity’s 1% fee now ranks as the most expensive among peers. Coinbase Advanced Trade remains competitive but targets high-frequency and high-net-worth users via a professional interface—not the default choice for average retail investors.

Why April–May 2026? Two key time anchors. First, the GENIUS Act—the stablecoin legal framework—was signed into law in July 2025, providing clear regulatory pathways for traditional financial institutions to custody and settle stablecoins. Second, the Clarity Act is poised to enter Senate markup. Regardless of final outcome, the core market structure is now visible, removing fears that institutions would face retroactive regulation upon entry. Wall Street is betting on the high probability that the Clarity Act will pass, acting accordingly rather than waiting for formal signature.

The Ethics Clause Targets the President

The ethics provision demanded by Democratic lawmakers has been repeatedly submitted to the White House since 2025—and repeatedly rejected. The rationale is concrete. According to a Bloomberg report from January 2026, approximately one-fifth of the Trump family’s $6.8 billion fortune stems directly from crypto ventures.

Breaking down these projects reveals specifics. Realized cash flows total around $1.47 billion, primarily from four products. Token sales for World Liberty Financial (WLFI) dominate, with the Trump family accumulating roughly $1 billion through this DeFi project by December 2025—including $550 million raised via public offerings.

The $TRUMP memecoin launched just three days before the January 2025 inauguration, generating $362 million in fees and trading profits for the family. Shortly after, Melania’s $MELANIA memecoin contributed about $65 million. Interest income from USD1 stablecoin reserves totaled $42 million.

Unrealized holdings are valued at approximately $2.8 billion. WLFI still holds $1.5 billion in unsold tokens on its books, highly sensitive to price volatility. Trump Media’s Bitcoin reserves are estimated at 9,500 to 11,500 BTC, worth roughly $840 million at current prices. Valuations tied to USD1 operations, American Bitcoin mining, and other equity stakes sum to about $460 million.

Adding realized and unrealized gains yields approximately $4.3 billion—this is the real figure behind the ethics clause. The version pushed by Senators like Elizabeth Warren explicitly prohibits sitting senior officials from profiting personally from crypto assets. A compromise version was sent to the White House but rejected. Whether the clause proceeds to full Senate floor vote hinges on a fundamental question for each senator: Are you willing to cast a public vote that effectively severs the Trump family’s $4.3 billion crypto windfall?

Can the Clarity Act Pass This Year?

The Clarity Act forcibly categorizes all digital assets into three buckets. The first is “digital commodities,” regulated by the CFTC, corresponding to tokens operating on “mature blockchain systems.” The bill defines “mature” by two hard criteria: fully functional network with consensus capability, and sufficiently decentralized such that no single entity can unilaterally alter protocol or governance.

The second bucket is “investment contract assets,” under SEC jurisdiction, representing tokens denoting equity, debt, or similar rights—such as tokenized stocks, blockchain-distributed traditional securities, and RWA (real-world assets like real estate, invoices, receivables).

The third bucket is payment stablecoins, overseen by banking regulators, requiring compliance across capital adequacy, custody, and anti-manipulation standards.

Compared to FIT21, which died in the Senate in 2024, the Clarity Act features three key upgrades. Stablecoin jurisdiction shifts from “unspecified” to “assigned by transaction venue”: transactions on CFTC platforms fall under CFTC oversight; those on SEC platforms fall under SEC, though SEC retains only anti-fraud authority.

DeFi safe harbor evolves from a principle-based exemption to a specific list of exempt activities—custody frontends, node operation, and code deployment will not trigger registration obligations. Exchange registration changes from “inter-agency coordination” to mandatory dual registration for intermediaries handling digital commodities, even if they are already SEC-registered broker-dealers.

The logic is clear: resolve the biggest uncertainty in the crypto industry over the past few years—“Which regulator actually governs this?”—by codifying it into law once and for all.

Currently, the Clarity Act stands alone in the Senate corridor.

According to a public statement from Congressman French Hill’s office, over 40 crypto and blockchain-related bills were introduced during the 116th Congress (2019–2020), with a 0% passage rate. The 118th Congress (2023–2024) saw FIT21 pass the House in May 2024—the first crypto market structure bill to pass full House vote—but it died in the Senate.

On July 18, 2025, Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, establishing the first federal stablecoin framework. It is the only crypto-related federal law enacted in six years—so far. On July 17, the House passed the Clarity Act 294 to 134. Theoretically, the Clarity Act now stands at the same stage as FIT21 did in 2024: passed by the House, awaiting Senate vote.

The difference lies in political context. During FIT21’s time, Democrats controlled the White House, lacking top-level momentum for crypto legislation. Now, the Trump administration actively champions it. However, the ethics provision compromise was rejected by the White House, and core Democratic lawmakers remain unconvinced. Missing the first week of August means the Senate will recess until September 14. With the November 3 midterm elections looming, whether the bill gets signed by 2026 depends less on “whether the White House wants it” and more on broader political dynamics.

Historically, over six years, more than 50 crypto bills introduced, only one signed into law. Whether the Clarity Act becomes the second will be decided in the next two months.

Original Source: BlockBeats