‘Crypto Week’: Congressional Momentum Builds
The U.S. Congress is witnessing an intensified “Crypto Week,” marked by additional legislative events and a heightened focus on digital assets. This expanding agenda underscores a growing recognition of cryptocurrency’s significance within the nation’s financial landscape.
Concurrently, the Trump family continues to broaden its engagement in the crypto sphere, actively introducing new avenues for digital wealth creation. This parallel development signifies a pivotal period for the crypto industry, as both its regulatory environment and entrepreneurial frontiers rapidly evolve.
Tax Policy: New Framework Discussions
On July 16, the House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means’ Oversight subcommittee is set to host a pivotal hearing titled “Making America the Crypto Capital of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century.” Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) confirmed that this session will specifically address “the affirmative steps needed to place a tax policy framework on digital assets.”
This hearing is a central component of the broader “Crypto Week,” which also includes anticipated floor votes on market structure legislation (the House’s CLARITY Act), stablecoin regulation (the Senate’s GENIUS Act), and renewed anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) legislation from Tom Emmer.
Lummis’s Plan: Potential for Tax Reform
While the House has yet to propose its own crypto tax legislation, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) recently introduced a bill that comprehensively tackles various aspects of crypto taxation. Given the House’s apparent readiness to vote on the Senate’s GENIUS Act for stablecoins without major alterations, there’s a distinct possibility that they might adopt Senator Lummis’s tax plan. This would, of course, depend on her ability to successfully shepherd it through her own chamber first, potentially streamlining the path for significant crypto tax reform.
Senate: Market Structure Debates Emerge
Rumors suggest the Senate is preparing to release a market structure discussion draft sometime next week, signaling its increasing involvement in digital asset regulation. The Senate might also consider adopting the CLARITY Act with minimal revisions, especially since it has not yet introduced its own comprehensive market structure bill, having previously only outlined a set of guiding “principles.”
This potential for the Senate to lean on existing House efforts gained traction from Committee member John Kennedy (R-LA), who questioned the logic of “the Senate starting from scratch drafting a market structure bill.”
Regulatory Oversight: States Seek Inclusion
Amidst the rapid pace of federal regulatory activity, state securities regulators are strongly advocating for their continued involvement in crypto oversight. On July 7, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) dispatched a letter to Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The letter urged them to “preserve the critical role that state securities regulators play in our capital markets as fighters of fraud, market manipulation, and similar abuses” as the Senate deliberates market structure legislation.
NASAA warned that excluding states “would have net-negative, significant consequences for Americans,” expressing concern that federal partners might not adequately fill the void left by state-level oversight, particularly given the current resource limitations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Trump Media: New “Non-Woke” Token Initiative
Despite persistent, albeit unsuccessful, attempts by Democrats to curb the Trump family’s crypto ventures, their digital asset empire continues its expansion. On July 9, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announced the public BETA testing of its new “Truth+ subscription TV streaming plan, the Patriot Package.” This offering, featuring “premium, non-woke news channels,” will enable subscribers to accrue activity-linked “gems” on their Truth Social accounts.
These gems are slated to be tied to a new utility token on both Truth Social and Truth+, building on TMTG’s earlier exploration of such a token and drawing inspiration from the success of President Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty Financial’s WLFI governance token.
Trump Ventures: Expansion Under Scrutiny
While TMTG has pursued ambitious crypto-focused endeavors, including applying for three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and raising $2.4 billion for its Bitcoin-based ‘treasury,’ its flagship Truth Social platform continues to face financial challenges, reporting a net loss of $31 million in Q1 2025 and a nearly 45% share price decline for the year. Concurrently, World Liberty Financial (WLF) recently announced a $100 million sale of its WLFI tokens to the Aqua1 Foundation, a ‘Web3-native fund’ based in the UAE.
However, crypto critic Jacob Silverman has voiced concerns regarding Aqua1’s legitimacy, citing a lack of official registration or public documentation in the UAE. This scrutiny highlights ongoing transparency challenges in the evolving crypto landscape, even as the Trump family’s digital asset ventures continue to expand and seek broader market integration.
