Scaramucci Blames Trump Crypto for CLARITY Act Setback

Anthony Scaramucci blamed President Donald Trump’s crypto business interests and memecoin launches for weakening Democratic support for the CLARITY Act, contributing to the Senate’s failure to advance the digital-asset bill on Sept. 15.

Speaking at SALT London, the SkyBridge Capital founder said Trump’s memecoin launches shortly before his January 2025 inauguration damaged bipartisan support for crypto legislation that had formed after the 2024 election. Asked whether the launches were the sole reason the bill failed, Scaramucci replied: “Singular reason.”

A Senate procedural motion to advance the CLARITY Act received 49 votes in favor and 50 against, short of the 60 votes required. The bill would have created a federal regulatory framework for digital assets.

Scaramucci attributed the loss of Democratic support to Trump’s memecoin activity. He also pointed to disagreements between lawmakers and the White House over ethics provisions that would have restricted government officials’ crypto-related financial interests.

“I think it’s the business interests, the memecoins,” Scaramucci said. Lawmakers were “trying to put real teeth into the ethics provision,” he added, while the White House did not want to sign those restrictions.

“There’s culpability on both sides for that deal not going forward,” Scaramucci said.

Five Democratic senators called for hearings in July into Trump’s crypto holdings and potential conflicts of interest. They cited concerns that his financial ties could influence crypto policy. French Hill, the Republican chair of the House Financial Services Committee, also acknowledged that Trump’s crypto businesses had made legislation more difficult to pass.

Public Citizen estimated in August that investors had incurred at least $4.7 billion in largely unrealized losses across Trump-related crypto ventures. The estimate included $3.2 billion associated with the Official Trump, or TRUMP, memecoin. The group also reported that Trump received $635 million in memecoin licensing fees in 2025, citing his financial disclosure.

Despite the Senate setback, Scaramucci pointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach under Chair Paul Atkins as a possible driver of tokenization adoption. He used the term “escape velocity” to describe a level of adoption that could make it difficult for a future SEC chair to stop or slow the industry. He added that it was too early to know whether adoption would reach that point before the next administration.

Reviewed and fact-checked by Alex Panasenko on November 5.