Ethics in Crypto Market Structure ‘Really Not Our Concern,’ Says Blockchain Association CEO

Summer Mersinger, the CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), anticipated a vote on a cryptocurrency market structure bill as soon as next week with the window closing for lawmakers before August state work periods. 

Speaking at the Injective Summit in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Mersinger said that US lawmakers working to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in Congress had a “few little nits that they’re still working out” but were “very close on the main part of the language” around the bill. According to the Blockchain Association CEO, a vote in the Senate could come as early as next week, provided lawmakers reached an agreement on ethics.

“Ethics is the big elephant in the room,” said Mersinger on the crypto bill. “That’s what we hear from every office is that we’ve gotta figure out ethics. Today there’s a meeting at the White House with some Republican senators. We’re hopeful that an agreement comes out of that and that it’s something the Democrats will accept or that they can make some changes but get to an agreement.”

She 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.” 

Summer Mersinger speaking at Injective Summit on Thursday. Source: Injective

Mersinger’s comments on a White House meeting followed reports that US President Donald Trump planned to discuss CLARITY with a group of Republican senators on Thursday, potentially including his ties to the industry, after Senate Democrats held their own meeting on the bill on Wednesday. Trump disclosed in June that he had earned $1.4 billion from ventures related to digital assets, including his memecoin and his family’s business World Liberty Financial.

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A former CFTC commissioner, Mersinger departed the agency in 2025 to become the CEO of the Blockchain Association. The organization was involved in discussions with lawmakers over the market structure bill as it passed the Senate banking and agriculture committees.

CLARITY needs bipartisan support to become law, but some Democrats are opposed

On Tuesday, three Senate Democrats held a press conference saying that they would not support a crypto market structure bill without clear ethics provisions, citing Trump’s financial disclosures and the potential for corruption by lawmakers and the White House. Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate and would need several Democrats to vote yay on the bill for it to pass.

At the time of publication, traders on prediction market Kalshi had a 75.1% chance on CLARITY going for a floor vote in the Senate before the August break, up from 47% on July 10.

Magazine: Crypto’s CLARITY Act faces partisan fight over ethics on Senate floor

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