Tim Scott Says the CLARITY Act Could Push Crypto to $30 Trillion

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said the CLARITY Act, a digital-asset market-structure bill that already cleared the House in 2025, could grow the US crypto market from $3 trillion to $30 trillion in the coming years. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Fox Business on May 29 that the current draft would “eventually blow up” if adopted as written, and he warned “the banks will not accept it that way.” The bill sits on the Senate legislative calendar as the White House pushes for a floor vote before July 4.

The bill is the same text the Senate Banking Committee cleared on May 14 in a 15-9 bipartisan vote, with two Democrats joining all 13 Republicans. The White House has spent the spring brokering compromises between banks and crypto firms on the stablecoin language at the center of the dispute, and that fight is what Dimon is now waging in public.

Scott Puts a Number on the Fight

In remarks reported on June 13, the South Carolina Republican framed the legislation as a question of national competitive position. “Some of us estimated that the actual sector itself and industry is worth about $3 trillion now,” he said. “I think it’s going to $30 trillion in the next several years.” He tied the projected jump to a regulatory regime that lets institutional capital flow without the threat of an SEC enforcement action.

Scott also pushed back on the framing that banks are opposed to all digital-asset activity. “The fact of the matter is that even JP Morgan is now getting involved in stable coins,” he said, adding that “digital assets is a part of the future of finance.” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, the source of much of the public opposition, told Fox Business on May 29 that the bill “will eventually blow up” if adopted as written.

His closing line on the Senate floor was blunt. “We can either lead in America or watch the dust from a distance,” Scott said. “We’re not going to do that. We’re going to lead in America.”

Why the Biggest Bank on Wall Street Says No

Dimon’s core complaint is not the market-structure framework but the stablecoin-reward language inside it. Stablecoins, dollar-pegged tokens used for payments, are the part of the bill closest to a traditional bank deposit, and the current draft lets issuers offer rewards that look like interest.

No, because it allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins or something like that, without protection that they should have. The banks will not accept it that way. I’m not worried about stablecoins but if it happened I’m telling you I will have nothing to do with it and it will eventually blow up.

The remarks, made in a Friday morning interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, put the country’s largest bank on a public collision course with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, whose exchange has championed the reward programs at the center of the dispute. Per a Wall Street Journal account, Dimon told Armstrong at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, “You are full of s—.” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told Armstrong, “If you want to be a bank, just be a bank.” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf declined to engage, and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser spent less than a minute with him.

Dimon’s intervention follows years of his public skepticism toward Bitcoin. Scott’s remarks, in response, highlighted that even JPMorgan is now getting involved in stablecoins.

Crypto’s Counterattack

The response came from the firms that backed the bill, with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse going on Fox Business on June 11 to accuse Dimon of misrepresenting the legislation’s anti-money-laundering provisions. He said Dimon had either misunderstood or deliberately mischaracterized what the bill actually requires. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and crypto advocate, took a similar line, suggesting Dimon either misread the bill or intended to mislead the public about its contents. Per Lummis’s earlier response to Dimon on the bill’s compliance rules, the Wyoming senator’s complaint is that the JPMorgan CEO is wrong about the legislation, not the framework itself.

Garlinghouse used the moment to make a financial case for the bill. He noted that Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has reached a value of $1.6 billion and pointed to the company’s treasury operations, which he said processed $13 trillion in payments the previous year.

Where the Bill Stands in the Senate

The CLARITY Act, formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 3633), passed the House in July 2025. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version on May 14, 2026, by a 15-9 bipartisan vote, with Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland crossing over to join all 13 Republicans. The bill landed on the Senate legislative calendar on June 1, 2026, where it waits for a floor vote.

The bill would draw jurisdictional lines the industry has been pressing for since at least 2023. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission would oversee digital commodities, while the Securities and Exchange Commission would retain authority over tokens classified as securities. The new framework would also create a process for token issuers to certify their regulatory status. That certification process is still being negotiated between the two committees merging the House and Senate drafts.

Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who helped negotiate the bill, used the hearing to describe the slog. “I guess I’m right now in crypto purgatory, but I’m looking forward to getting all the way there,” he said. Three procedural steps remain. The Senate must schedule and hold a floor vote, ideally before August recess. The two chambers then have to merge the House and Senate versions of the bill. The merged text has to clear both chambers again and reach President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. For the floor vote, law enforcement sign-off on a developer carve-out is the next procedural hurdle, per a recent White House meeting on the bill.

• 15-9: Senate Banking Committee vote to advance the bill on May 14, 2026.
• 2: Senate Democrats (Gallego, Alsobrooks) who joined all Republicans in the committee vote.
• June 1, 2026: Bill lands on the Senate legislative calendar.
• July 4: White House target for final passage.

The Stablecoin Fight at the Center of the Bill

The compromise that unblocked the Banking Committee came from Senators Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, and Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat. Their deal banned bank-deposit-equivalent yield on stablecoins while leaving room for rewards tied to spending. White House digital-assets adviser Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, told the Consensus Miami conference on May 6 that the language “is closed.” “Crypto is unhappy, banks are unhappy, but they’re both about equally unhappy,” Witt said. “And so we know that we got the right compromise.”

The remaining policy fight is over a conflict-of-interest provision, partly a response to critics who pointed to President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures. Witt said the negotiating posture is to accept rules that apply “across the board, from the president all the way down to the brand new intern on Capitol Hill,” but reject anything that singles out a particular office or officeholder.

The July 4 Window That Has to Hold

The White House is aiming for a July 4 finish. Witt said the target date would amount to “a tremendous birthday present for America, celebrating our 250th.” The mechanics, according to him, are a Senate Banking Committee markup this month, four working Senate weeks in June for floor passage, and enough runway for a House vote before Independence Day.

Not everyone in the Senate agrees with the calendar. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, said at Consensus Miami that she expects the bill to reach the president’s desk by the first week of August. “There’s not a lot of slack left in the rope right now,” Witt acknowledged. “But it is an achievable timeline.” If the bill slips past 2026, Witt warned, “we are going to be a rule follower, and we’re going to be following somebody else’s rulebook on this. And God forbid it’s China that’s ultimately writing those rules.”

Per Dimon’s vow to keep fighting the stablecoin rules, the bank lobby is not signaling it will accept the committee’s compromise as written. The next test of the timeline is whether the White House can hold both sides to the deal before the floor vote opens.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CLARITY Act?

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, or H.R. 3633, is a market-structure bill that draws clear jurisdictional lines between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, deciding which agency oversees which types of digital assets. It is the first wide-ranging US legislation aimed at answering that question in statute.

How much could the crypto market grow if the CLARITY Act passes?

Tim Scott has said the market could grow from $3 trillion to $30 trillion “in the next several years,” a figure he ties to regulatory clarity drawing in institutional capital. The projection is Scott’s own; the bill’s text sets rules rather than market-size targets.

When will the Senate vote on the CLARITY Act?

The White House is targeting July 4 for passage, with the Senate floor vote expected during four working Senate weeks in June. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has said she expects the bill to reach the president’s desk by the first week of August. The bill landed on the Senate legislative calendar on June 1, 2026.

Why is Jamie Dimon against the CLARITY Act?

Dimon’s stated objection is the bill’s treatment of stablecoin rewards. He told Fox Business on May 29 that the current draft “allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins or something like that, without protection that they should have,” and warned the system “will eventually blow up” if adopted as written.

What is the stablecoin-yield fight inside the bill?

It is the dispute over whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to pay rewards that resemble bank interest. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks brokered a compromise that bans bank-deposit-equivalent yield while leaving room for rewards tied to spending. White House adviser Patrick Witt has called the compromise “closed.”

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and carry substantial risk, including the total loss of invested capital. Readers should consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Figures and projections cited are accurate as of the publication date.