Key Takeaways
- Ripple CEO says America’s crypto capital goal is within reach.
- CFTC chairman says financial innovation is being built on American soil.
- The CLARITY Act remains the next major test in Congress.
Garlinghouse Renews US Crypto Leadership Call
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse renewed his support for President Donald Trump’s digital asset agenda on Sept. 3, revisiting an Aug. 19 White House meeting attended by financial and technology executives. In a post on X, Garlinghouse stated:
“Proud to be in the room. Making America the crypto capital of the world is within reach – let’s finish the job”
The Ripple executive shared a new post from Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael S. Selig that credited Trump with bringing leading innovators into the White House last month. Selig remarked that under Trump’s leadership, “we’re ensuring that the new frontier of finance is built on American soil.”
Selig’s latest post echoed a broader policy case he had made during the Aug. 19 White House meeting. In those remarks, the CFTC chairman connected regulatory clarity with investment, employment, and domestic technological development. He also said the United States must write the rules governing the next generation of financial markets rather than allow other countries to set them.
White House Meeting Puts Crypto Rules at the Center
The gathering brought Garlinghouse together with federal regulators and executives from crypto platforms, financial institutions, and market infrastructure companies. The official White House video records Trump’s discussion with participants including Selig, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins, and leaders from Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, Nasdaq, and Intercontinental Exchange.
Digital asset legislation, capital formation, tokenization, and U.S. technological competitiveness featured prominently during the White House meeting. Trump said his administration had ended the “war on crypto,” while industry executives urged senators to advance legislation establishing federal rules for digital asset markets.
Garlinghouse previously described the White House gathering and a subsequent CFTC meeting as signs that federal crypto rules were approaching a decisive stage. His earlier assessment of regulatory progress showed how Ripple’s seven-year demand for clear federal rules had advanced from appeals to Congress into direct policy discussions with the White House, the CFTC, and major financial institutions.
CLARITY Act Becomes the Immediate Test
The regulatory outcome could affect a market spanning blockchain networks, tokens, wallets, exchanges, and decentralized applications. These cryptocurrency services and digital assets function through different structures, while the proposed legislation would determine which activities fall under commodities or securities oversight and how trading platforms can operate under federal rules.
H.R. 3633, formally called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, would establish a federal market structure for digital assets by giving the CFTC authority over spot markets for qualifying digital commodities while preserving SEC oversight of securities. After the House passed the bill in July 2025, it moved to the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) filed an Aug. 8 cloture motion seeking to advance the bill to formal consideration, according to the Senate cloture record for the bill.
Ripple executives had urged lawmakers to complete the legislation weeks before the White House meeting. Their campaign for the CLARITY Act included Garlinghouse’s statement: “My thoughts exactly… Perfect can’t be the enemy of good. Let’s get this done!” Under the Senate’s announced floor schedule, the cloture motion ripens at 2:15 p.m. EDT on Sept. 15. If held, the procedural vote would determine whether the Senate invokes cloture on the motion to proceed, a key step toward formal consideration of the bill. It would also be the first congressional test of Garlinghouse’s claim that the U.S. crypto capital goal is within reach.
