Blockchain Association CEO: Ethics not our concern

Summer Mersinger, chief executive of the Blockchain Association and a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner, spoke at the Injective Summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and warned that ethics disputes could jeopardize the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act as it nears a Senate vote that could come as soon as next week.

Mersinger said negotiators were “very close on the main part of the language” of the bill but still working through “a few little nits,” with ethics described as the primary outstanding issue. She told attendees the industry wants its negotiated market-structure provisions preserved and urged lawmakers to resolve ethics questions without undoing that work.

The CLARITY Act aims to set regulatory roles and trading rules for digital-asset markets. The bill has cleared Senate banking and agriculture committees and needs floor approval and bipartisan support to become law. Republicans hold a slim Senate majority and would need several Democrats to join them for passage.

On Tuesday, three Senate Democrats announced they would withhold support unless CLARITY includes clear and binding ethics provisions. Their opposition followed public disclosures about ties between political leaders and digital-asset ventures. Mersinger characterized ethics as a political matter for elected officials to decide. “Ethics is the big elephant in the room,” she said, and added, “For my members and what we are advocating for on the Hill… look, whatever you decide on ethics, that’s really not our concern. That is politics. That’s Congress. That’s elected officials. But please don’t let it kill all the hard work that we put in the rest of the bill.”

A White House meeting with Republican senators scheduled the same day was cited as an opportunity to narrow differences. In June, the president disclosed earning roughly $1.4 billion from ventures tied to digital assets, including a memecoin and family-related financial ventures, information some senators cited when calling for stronger ethics language.

Mersinger left the CFTC in 2025 to lead the Blockchain Association, which has been involved in talks with lawmakers as CLARITY moved through committee. Market participants have tracked the bill’s progress: a prediction market placed the chance of CLARITY reaching a Senate floor vote before the August state work periods at about 75%, up from roughly 47% on July 10.

Supporters say the bill would clarify which agencies oversee different digital-asset activities and create a uniform framework for trading, custody and market surveillance. Opponents continue to press for stricter safeguards addressing conflicts of interest and ethics for elected officials with industry ties.